A mother and her boyfriend were arrested Monday afternoon after being charged in the death of a 2-year-old boy who died from an overdose.
Cleveland police say the boy's mother, Tessa Gadd, 24, and her boyfriend, John Hines Jr., 33, have been charged with involuntary manslaughter after it was discovered the boy, Lorenzo Ealom Jr., had lethal doses of several drugs in his system, including indications that he had ingested cocaine at some point prior.
The homicide case will be presented to the grand jury for possible additional charges.
According to court documents, Hines brought illegal narcotics to Gadd's apartment at 3423 E. 140th Street on or around March 3. During that time, Lorenzo had suboxone, a medication used by heroin addicts to help alleviate addiction.
Instead of taking the boy to the hospital, Hines dropped him off at his daycare. Lorenzo was then taken to the hospital by EMS where he was pronounced dead.
Court documents also showed Lorenzo had a high dosage of cough medication and Benadryl in his system.
Cuyahoga County Child and Family Services is investigating this case and said Gadd has past incidents with the agency. Two years ago, a case was presented regarding Gadd's parenting and her home being a wreck. The case was later closed.
CFS was also notified in February when the 2-year-old was found wandering the hallway of the Doubletree Hotel in Beachwood. Gadd was not found to be at fault for this incident because the child was with an adult babysitter at the time. The case was closed.
CFS said Lorenzo's 7-year-old sibling is staying with another family member while it investigates the boy's death.
