An 8-year-old boy from Indiana is dead after he mistook his father’s methamphetamine for cereal and ate enough to kill 180 people.
Curtis Collman III, of Seymour Indiana, had 18,000 nanograms of methamphetamine in his bloodstream when he died June 21, Jackson County Detective Tom Barker told the Seymour Tribune.
A lethal amount is 100 nanograms.
It is not clear how much meth the child actually ate before he died. “We don’t know that answer, but it’s a lot,” Detective Barker said.
The drugs were left out on a plate at his father’s house, where the pair was staying. Police believe the child ate several grams.
Father Denied Son Medical Help
According to police records, Collman ll and his son had spent the night of June 20 at Collman lll’s house in Seymour.Because the drug did not take effect immediately, Curtis III did not know he was eating a highly toxic substance.
Curtis Collman ll called a female friend around 10 a.m. on June 21, saying he needed help because his son was “not acting right.” He was “twitching and bouncing his face off the floor,” the father said, reported Fox, still citing court records.
The woman arrived at the Collman residence around 10:50 a.m. When she saw Curtis III, she told his father that they needed to call 911.
The woman told police that rather than let her call for help, Collman grabbed the phone away from her. He left the room and came back with a pistol, which he pointed at her.
Collman told the woman, “I’m not going back to prison,” then threatened to kill her, his son, and himself, the woman told police.
Collman II, 41, had prior convictions for trafficking and sexual misconduct with a minor. He spent three years in jail on the later charge.
When the man at his mother’s house did call 911, Collman fled the residence, leaving his suffering son behind.
Jackson County Emergency Medical Service and other first responders transported the boy to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, where he died at 2:43 p.m. of a methamphetamine overdose.
You have an 8-year-old child that most likely suffered for many hours," Detective Barker told WAVE. "It upsets you."
Father Pleads for Reduced Bond
Police eventually caught Curtis Collman II around 7 p.m. July 21 and arrested him for failing to register as a sex offender when he switched addresses. He was later charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, pointing a firearm, intimidation, possession of methamphetamine, and theft.Collman’s bond was originally set at $50,000. At his bond hearing on Aug. 2, the 41-year-old ex-convict pleaded for a reduced bond, so he could spend time at home with his parents while awaiting trial.
Collman’s trial is scheduled for Dec. 4.