OXFORD, Miss. — Authorities arrested a woman Thursday after an autopsy showed that her baby daughter died earlier this year of fentanyl toxicity, WHBQ-TV reported.
Police responded to an apartment complex on Anchorage Road on Sept. 15 after the infant girl was found unresponsive, the news station reported, citing the Oxford Police Department. The girl was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
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Following an autopsy, authorities arrested the girl’s mother, Ebonee White, 31, according to WHBQ. She was charged with manslaughter and ordered to be held on a $100,000 bond, the news station reported.
“This case highlights why law enforcement has urged our community to stay away from this drug,” Chief Jeff McCutchen said in a statement obtained by WHBQ. “Fentanyl has claimed the lives of too many community members. We must continue our efforts to combat the access and distribution of fentanyl on our streets.”
Fentanyl can be as many as 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Earlier this year, the agency warned that as little as two milligrams of the opioid -- a dose small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil -- can be lethal.