ROWAN COUNTY — The mother and father of an 11-month-old infant are facing child abuse charges after their baby suffered cardiac arrest attributed to suspected fentanyl exposure.

Jamie Robertson and James Danielson were each charged with felony neglect child abuse causing serious bodily injury, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia for their alleged role in the incident that took place on July 20.

According to Captain Mark McDaniel, the public information officer with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, emergency personnel responded to the residence on Sides Road near Rockwell at approximately 2:58 p.m. after a 911 call reported an “11-month-old child was unconscious and not breathing.”

McDaniel said that shortly after the call, a North Carolina State Highway Patrol officer arrived on the scene and encountered Robertson running out of a camper holding the unconscious infant.

The trooper reportedly administered CPR until EMS and fire personnel arrived on scene to take charge of life-saving measures. One of those measures was the administration of Narcan, the drug used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

The infant was subsequently transported to an undisclosed nearby children’s medical facility for treatment.

Robertson reportedly told investigators that she “fixed the infant a baby bottle using water from a water bottle that she had gotten out of her father’s vehicle.”

Robertson also told investigators that she, Danielson and the infant all fell asleep in then bed and that when she awoke, her daughter was gasping for air and struggling to breathe, prompting the 911 call.

When investigators searched the camper, they reportedly found unsanitary conditions along with various items of drug paraphernalia, drug residue and uncapped syringes.

According to McDaniel, Robertson and Danielson later admitted to investigators that they both had injected fentanyl while in bed with the infant prior to falling asleep. 

They were placed in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $100,000 bonds. 

The Department of Social Services was contacted and, along with investigators from the sheriff’s office, is still investigating this case. The infant has been released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.