Mom Charged With Manslaughter After 6-Year-Old Minnesota Boy Chewed On Drug-Tainted $1 Bill, Died

The mother of a 6-year-old Minnesota boy, who died of a fentanyl overdose after apparently chewing on a $1 bill that was in her possession, has been charged with manslaughter.

Oaklee James Hirsch was found dead on May 27 in his Maple Plain home after he nibbled at the drug-tainted dollar bill that he found in his reach. The incident took place when the boy was living with his mother, Brittany Ferrell, 29, and his father, Brandon Hirsch, 34, Minnesota Star-Tribune reported.

The little boy was sleeping in the same room as his mother when the latter woke up from her sleep to find something was wrong with the child and awoke Brandon, who was in the living room. When Brandon took a closer look, he found Oaklee's lips had turned blue and figured he was overdosing.

Brandon then called 911 to report his son appeared to have overdosed and that he had administered Narcan — an opioid overdose treatment medication, Star-Tribune reported, citing a criminal complaint and court records. When a West Hennepin police officer arrived he saw Brittany and the boy's grandmother kneeling over and attempting to resuscitate him.

The officer then took over and tried his best to resuscitate Oaklee but had no luck. The medical responders declared him dead shortly after. Brandon spotted the dollar bill near Oaklee's body and suspected it was laced with drugs, considering the burn marks.

"The dollar bill in question had burn marks on it, was missing a corner as if it had a bite mark, and was wet to the touch and flat," the criminal complaint read, according to KSTP.

The outlet reported that Brandon believed the dollar bill was Brittany's as it was in her room. The child's grandmother told cops that the boy's growth milestones were delayed and he was also autistic, due to which he would chew on newspaper, sometimes even swallow it or spit it out.

Brandon confessed to having abused illicit drugs with Brittany in the last 72 hours leading up to their son's death.

Brittany has been charged with manslaughter and is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 15.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that was developed for the pain management treatment of cancer patients, is 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times as powerful as heroin.

"He had the ability to make anyone fall in love with him. It was hard not to with those big beautiful brown eyes and blonde curly hair that bounced in the sunshine. Oaklee had enthusiasm beyond imagination!" Oaklee's obituary stated about him.