BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – After a 2-year-old girl died earlier this year, her father is now facing charges of manslaughter and child neglect, according to the West Melbourne Police Department.
In a release, police said they began the investigation in mid-May after the child — identified as Jonnie Jordan — was taken to a local hospital in an “unresponsive state.”
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Per investigators, Jordan was brought there by her father — Jerome Jordan, 35 — and his sister just after 6 a.m. on May 18.
“Hospital staff pronounced Jonnie deceased,” the release reads. “Early on, investigators believed this may have been an overdose based on Jerome Jordan initially urging medical staff to provide his daughter with Narcan.”
Police added that the child had been taken to the hospital from 4625 Explorer Drive in West Melbourne.
On the evening of May 17, though, she and her father were at the home of Charlene O’Connell, who lives along Malibu Circle Northeast in Palm Bay, police noted.
“O’Connell is the mother of two of Jerome Jordan’s other children,” the release continues. “While at O’Connell’s residence, Jonnie Jordan gained access to Kratom pills that belonged to Jerome Jordan and Charlene O’Connell, and ingested as much as two and a half pills.”
According to detectives, both Jerome Jordan and O’Connell were aware that the toddler had ingested the substance and saw her lips go blue before she suffered a seizure and began breathing abnormally.
However, neither of them called 911 or sought medical attention for the girl, with Jerome Jordan instead bringing her back to his sister’s apartment on Explorer Drive and putting her to bed, police said.
“When he woke up, that is when he brought her lifeless body to the hospital,” the release states.
The Medical Examiner later conducted an autopsy on the girl and determined she died of a drug overdose involving mitragynine — a substance found in Kratom.
Investigators explained that Kratom is used for its “stimulant, analgesic, and opioid-like effects,” and while it may be sold over the counter in various legal forms, some synthetic blends can contain illegal substances like 7-OH.
On Wednesday, police announced that Jerome Jordan and Charlene O’Connell had been charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect with great bodily harm. Both are held with no bond.