KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In October 2021, prosecutors said first responders answered calls for help at a Rutledge Pike home, where they found a 15-month-old child limp and unresponsive. In a release, they said paramedics spent around an hour resuscitating the child. It also said they administered two doses of naloxone.
After the second dose, prosecutors said the child started breathing. The father, Jeffrey Michael Thompson, admitted to using what he believed to be heroin daily and said the child became "wobbly" after the last time he used the drugs.
The 36-year-old father was then convicted of aggravated child neglect and aggravated child endangerment. He faces between 15 years and 20 years in prison.
Charme Allen, the District Attorney General, said the child is now alive and is "doing well today." She credited first responders with saving her life.
Prosecutors said Thompson was actually using fentanyl, which led to the 15-month-old's overdose.