JENNINGS, Mo. — A mother was charged Sunday in the fatal drug overdose of her 4-year-old daughter who was exposed to heroin while inside their Jennings home.
St. Louis County prosecutors charged Christina Huntspon with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death. She is currently being held at the St. Louis County Justice Center on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
According to the probable cause statement, just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a home in the 9100 block of Cozens Avenue, where they found a child unresponsive in her father's bed.
Preliminary information indicated that she had experienced a drug overdose after being exposed to heroin. Police also found several capsules of what appeared to be heroin near the bed.
Police said Huntspon, 32, admitted to having a severe drug addiction and using heroin Saturday morning inside the home. She also told police that her addiction likely caused the death of her daughter and no one else could have brought drugs into the home.
Her daughter, who was identified as Sanna Riggins, was transported to St. Louis Children's Hospital, where she died.
The girl's father showed no signs of drug use. He had legal custody of the child because of Huntspon's addiction and drug use, according to the probable cause statement. Huntspon also had drugs in her system at the time of Sanna's birth.
St. Louis County police said it's still under investigation whether the father was home at the time of the incident.
Neighbors on Cozens Avenue said they are still feeling the shock days after Sanaa overdosed on heroin.
"It shocks me that something like this would happen to a 4-year-old because the parents should've been on guard," Alinda Dickerson said.
Agent in Charge Michael Davis with the St. Louis Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration helps study illicit drug patterns in the Metro area.
He said heroin has been on the decline for years. But, what's trending now is that heroin is being mixed with other deadly drugs including fentanyl. He's also studied patterns of fentanyl being mixed with cocaine.
"Heroin has been almost replaced completely with fentanyl, another opioid, and in this case, I'm almost certain that heroin alone is not the cause of the death. It's more than likely going to be heroin and fentanyl," Davis said.
Davis said the tragedy shines a light on a bigger issue.
"This shows just how these illicit drugs can affect the whole family. Just because one person is doing it it affects the whole family in different ways and unfortunately, this one resulted in a 4-year-old dying," Davis said.
The St. Louis County Police Department Bureau of Crimes Against Persons detectives are leading this investigation.
PreventEd has led the conversation around alcohol and other drugs for over 50 years in the St. Louis and Missouri area. The group provides resources and helps reduce the stigma for people struggling with addictions. They provide free training for overdose prevention training and naloxone training, counselors and free Narcan through their vending machine among many other resources.
To access vending machines people can go to several locations, for a full list head here.
