A 1-year-old boy who was found dead at a Pennsylvania home earlier this month had the narcotic drug fentanyl in his blood, according to WTAE.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Thomas Humphreys was found dead at home in Baldwin on September 13. Detectives who searched the home following the toddler boy’s death found a significant amount of drugs and drug paraphernalia, including some within reach of Thomas’s playpen.
According to WTAE, blood tests found that Thomas had fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, in his system. A criminal complaint included a notation that a medical examiner had determined the boy died of homicide by drug overdose, but the coroner’s office has not yet released the autopsy report.
Responding officers reportedly observed that the child had been dead for quite some time. According to new information in the WTAE report, the boy was lying on a blanket on the porch when officers arrived. It is not yet known who initially called police to the home. As CrimeOnline previously reported, charing documents obtained by Pittsburgh Tribune-Live show that the boy’s father, 35-year-old Thomas Snelsire, was found lying in a roadway near the home when police arrived, while the boy’s mother appears to have been with the child.
As WTAE reports, Snelsire and the boy’s mother Tracy Humphreys, also 35, turned themselves in to police on Thursday on charges of criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of children and multiple drug charges.
As previously reported, the suspects were known to local authorities as habitual drug users, and the home was the subject of multiple complaints. But on August 14, less than a month before the toddler died, a case worker from Children, Youth, and Families (CYF) inspected the home and reportedly did not find any drugs or inappropriate conditions.
Thomas’s 11-year-old half brother also lived in the home. He reportedly told police that he was aware of the illegal drugs and was permitted in areas of the home where the drugs were kept. The boy was given a medical examination, and was found to have cocaine in his system.
It is not clear if the 11-year-old boy remained in the home until his mother and stepfather turned themselves in Thursday, or where he is now.
CrimeOnline will provide further updates when more information is available.
