A 10-year-old boy from Miami died last month after having Skin Contact with, and possibly inhalation of, the deadly opioid mixture of fentanyl and heroin accidentally. This highlights the opioid crisis, not only in Florida but, all over United States. Police are still looking for any lead that could point to how the child came in contact with the synthetic drug.
The boy, Alton Banks, was from Overtown, which is a hot bed for heroin and fentanyl transactions. The Washington Post reported that Banks left the community swimming pool, Gibson Park, on June 23 and by the time he was on the stairs leading to his apartment door, he started vomiting.
His mother called the ambulance and he was taken to the hospital. An hour later, he died and it was found out that the cause was his skin contact with fentanyl.
Police struggling with information
Miami police believe that Banks ingested fentanyl but they do not know how and where. The police chief in the area, Rodolfo Llanes, is asking witnesses to come forward if they have any information in an attempt to solve the case. They hope that someone saw Banks between 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. from when he left the community pool to when he reached his home.
The Miami Herald reported that a partially completed toxicology report showed that he might have died from a mix of fentanyl and heroin. He is the youngest victim in the opioid crisis in South Florida.
Fentanyl, and other synthetic drugs, could lead to death even if it is breathed in and not just when snorted or injected. It is possible that he had the fentanyl on his skin and accidentally breathed it in through his moth or nose. If it was only through the skin, it should have taken longer before he died. The final toxicology report is yet to be released.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernarndez Rundle also appealed to the public. She said that they hope someone would come forward to help them solve the “horrific death” of the 10-year-old.
He just finished fifth grade at the Frederick Douglass Elementary. Banks wanted to be an engineer. His mother did not release any statement yet as a grief counselor working with the family said that she does not feel like talking about it.
Miami-Dade saw overdoses since last year due to fentanyl
Last year, there were more than 500 deaths in Miami-Dade. Two hundred and eighty involved illegal fentanyl, which is from China or Mexico. For the first half of 2017, around 100 people died due to fentanyl in Miami-Dade.
