Florida Parents Charged After Middle Schooler ‘Overdoses’ in Class on Drugs Taken From Home

A Florida couple has been arrested after their daughter consumed narcotics at school, causing her condition to deteriorate. The victim, a middle schooler, allegedly brought a bottle of fentanyl from her home and snorted it in the school washroom.

First responders were called to L.A. Ainger Middle School in Englewood on the morning of March 10 after a student’s health worsened. The victim lost consciousness due to an overdose of the drug and lay on the floor, while the school nurse performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

The girl was rushed to a hospital after being given a dose of nasal Narcan. Her condition stabilized after undergoing treatment. Meanwhile, she told the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office deputies that her father, 40-year-old Joshua Lee Sanders, regularly consumed drugs and kept them within the reach of his children.

On the morning of the incident, she noticed a bottle containing a white powder in the bathroom at home. The bottle was marked with the label ‘FENT.’ The victim told authorities that she planned to give the bottle to her mother, 34-year-old Courtney Marie Delaney, but forgot to, and carried it to her school.

She then went to the school washroom before the first class and tried the drug out of curiosity. As she faced a health crisis, her mother was contacted. Delaney told authorities that she frequently fought with her husband over his substance abuse. During interrogation, Delaney revealed that Sanders had been living with her and their three children for a year.

According to Delaney, she frequently threw away his narcotics. On March 10, when the fentanyl bottle went missing from the bathroom, Sanders once again blamed Delaney, while both were unaware that their daughter had taken the drug to school.

The arrest affidavit revealed, “[Delaney] said that she would throw the narcotics away and not say anything to [Sanders] about it. [She] knew Joshua to be a narcotics user and stated that his drug of choice was fentanyl.”

Both Delaney and Sanders have been charged with one count of child neglect resulting in great bodily harm and two counts of neglect without great bodily harm. Delaney has since been released on a $25,000 bond. Sanders is currently in prison, and his bond has been set at $450,000. The couple will be arraigned before the court on April 20.

Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell expressed relief over the victim’s recovery. He said in an official statement, “First and most importantly, I am glad to hear that the student will make a full recovery. This could have ended very, very differently if not for the fast actions taken by the school nurse and other staff, as well as my deputies.”

The sheriff also highlighted that parents ought to be more careful around their children. He said, “It is inexcusable and unforgivable that this child was able to access this poison so easily, and that’s why these arrests were made. I thank God that we were able to intervene before something even worse happened.”