NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – A Little River man is in jail after Narcan had to be given to an 8-month-old baby to help save the child’s life, according to a police report.
North Myrtle Beach police were called to an apartment on 20th Avenue North Wednesday night around 6:30 p.m. for a possible drug overdose of an 8-month-old baby. When officers arrived, they were told that the baby “took a small blue…pill that was inside of a plastic bag.”
The police report states the baby was unresponsive and “breathing slowly,” so first responders administered Narcan to the 8-month-old, who eventually began to respond and cry.
The caregiver for the child, Rafael Renta, 22, told police the pill was a “Roxy,” but later changed his story and told officers it was OxyContin that the baby had swallowed. Renta told police he laid the baby on the bed to run outside to get a phone charger from his car. When he returned, the blue pill, which had been in a plastic bag, was gone, Renta told police.
Renta didn’t have a prescription for the pill, according to the report.
Because the apartment smelled like marijuana, police obtained a search warrant and seized a number of drugs and paraphernalia. The report says officers found about seven ounces of marijuana, Xanax pills, unmarked pills, marijuana pipes, cans of butane oil, a digital scale, and rolling papers.
The baby was transported to Seacoast Hospital and then to Grand Strand Medical Center for further care.
Renta, who had only been out of jail for a number of hours, was arrested and charged with unlawful neglect of a child and two counts of possession of a scheduled substance with intent to distribute.
Just one day prior to Renta’s child neglect arrest, the 22-year-old was jailed for speeding, possession of a scheduled substance with intent to distribute, and failure to provide proof of insurance. According to J. Reuben Long booking records, Renta was jailed Tuesday at 7:31 p.m., released from jail at 2:35 p.m. Wednesday and put back in jail for child neglect roughly five hours later.
Booking records indicate Renta remains in jail at the time this article was posted.
News 13 spoke with Solicitor Jimmy Richardson about how local agencies will be investigating these type of cases.
Richardson says this type of case is rare in the court system, but his office and other agencies are teaming up with SLED to launch a task force that will investigate child deaths and near deaths.
“I think that now that SLED and the county are investigating you’re probably going to see a spike,” said Richardson.
It’s called the child death investigative task force, and when a child death happens a member will be alerted through a phone tree system, and sent to the scene.
“Any death or near death type case SLED has offered to come in and help the local authorities, and get them on the same page. Basically, being a force multiplier for these investigations,” said Richardson.
The task force will also keep up with statistics to see what is the leading to child deaths in our area.
“You sort of get used to seeing all of this carnage, but you never get used to the kids,” said Richardson.
The task force is already operational in other parts of the state. News 13 will keep you updated when it starts in our area.
