ATLANTA — Investigators said a 4-year-old was not breathing when they discovered his body. The boy died after ingesting fentanyl.
Now, the boy’s babysitter has been charged with murder.
Channel 2’s Michael Seiden spoke with the boy’s adult sister on Friday, who said her brother had been staying with a family friend, Christine Mathis, 23.
Mathis has now been charged with second-degree murder in the death of little Karter Spencer.
Investigators say the child got into drugs laced with fentanyl at her apartment off Metropolitan Parkway in August.
“I saw the police and the cars, and I said, ‘Oh my god, I wonder what happened,’” a neighbor told Seiden, asking only to be identified as Joyce.
According to the arrest affidavit, when officers arrived, they found Karter cold, stiff, and not breathing.
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He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Several weeks later, a toxicology report confirmed he had fentanyl, xylazine, and ortho-methyl fentanyl in his system.
“That’s an even more potent version of fentanyl,” said Dr. Mara Schenker, an orthopedic surgeon and the Chief Medical Officer for the CWC Alliance, a nonprofit focused on fighting the opioid epidemic through education and prevention.
She said this heartbreaking case, sadly, isn’t surprising.
“Fentanyl is in all sorts of substances, and a lot of these substances are lying around, and it’s something that happens by accident,” Schenker said.
Seiden checked with the Georgia Department of Public Health, which tracks fentanyl overdose deaths for both adults and children.
In 2023, Georgia recorded nearly 1,600 deaths. That number declined last year, with just over 1,000 deaths.
So far this year, through September, the state has seen nearly 500.
Doctors say one reason for the decline is the widespread availability of Narcan.
“In my opinion, that’s something that should be everywhere,” Schenker said.
In this case, police say Mathis waited to call 911, and doctors determined the child had been dead for hours.
“Yes, potentially, if they had called earlier, it could have saved the child’s life,” Schenker said.
The arresting affidavit also names another woman, but as of now, she is not facing any charges.
Seiden reached out to Atlanta police for an update, but a spokesperson told him the detective handling the case wasn’t available.
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