Dad arrested after 5-year-old eats his cannabis gummies, deputies say
By Pamela Comme
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FLAGLER COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — A Flagler County father is under investigation after deputies say he delayed getting medical help for his 5-year-old daughter, who showed signs of a possible overdose.
Deputies arrested 29-year-old Ka’Juan Harris. Body camera footage captured the moment he was taken into custody.
“I don’t want to talk. I want my lawyer,” Harris told deputies.
According to investigators, Harris waited several hours before seeking help for his daughter. The girl’s mother, who shares custody, told deputies she had asked Harris to take the child to the hospital. Instead, Harris allegedly texted her that the girl would “just sleep it off.”
Eight hours later, when the mother saw her daughter, she immediately noticed something was wrong. According to deputies, she told them her daughter’s head was falling backward, she could not stand, and her eyes appeared to be rolling back.
Dr. Candice Jones, a local pediatrician, said those symptoms are consistent with a drug overdose.
“That child can become unresponsive, have various states of altered mental status, sleep but not respond,” Jones said. “These children could stop breathing, their heart could stop. They could have seizures.”
Deputies also revealed this was not the first time the child had suffered a similar incident. In 2020, when she was just 10 months old, she reportedly ingested an unknown opioid. She survived but was left with a developmental disability and is now non-verbal.
“When a child’s heart stops, when their breathing stops, when their mental status is altered, and these medications act at the level of the brain, there can be damage,” Jones said.
The girl spent two nights unconscious in the hospital following the most recent incident. Authorities say she is now recovering and has returned to her normal self.
The investigation is ongoing. Harris posted his $25,000 bond.
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