Mother, grandmother arrested after 4-year-old eats cocaine

The mother and grandmother of a 4-year-old Darlington girl were arrested Tuesday after the child ate cocaine from a bag she found in the suspects’ home, Darlington County Sheriff’s Capt. Andy Locklair said.

Jessica McKnight, 21, and Dorothy McKnight Green, 51, both of 123 Robin Lane in Darlington, are each charged with one count of unlawful neglect of a child by legal custodian, Darlington County Detention Center booking reports show.

The S.C. Department of Social Services received an anonymous tip that the girl found a baggy of cocaine in the home and started eating from it, Locklair said.

Authorities performed a hair follicle test on the child and found cocaine in her body.

Darlington County sheriff’s deputies began investigating the incident in February after DSS case workers contacted them, Locklair said.

The 4-year-old and a 1-year-old child who was also living in the home were placed in emergency protective custody. The younger child didn’t test positive for cocaine, Locklair said.

The 4-year-old wasn’t injured, Locklair said.

The two women were arrested Tuesday after deputies completed the investigation, he said.

“This is no different than having a loaded gun laying out and a child getting hold of it,” Locklair said.

Bryon Frost, a McLeod Regional Medical Center emergency room physician, isn’t involved in this case but said the effects of cocaine ingestion vary depending on the amount consumed and the age of the person who consumed it.

If a small amount is ingested, a person could experience a rapid pulse, Frost said.

“It would more than likely equate to an overdose in an adult,” he said. “... If you’re 4 years old and you take even a small amount of cocaine, it’s going to cause all the symptoms you would have in an adult in an overdose situation.”

When ingested orally, the drug is absorbed through the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, which can lead to blood vessels in the body becoming severely constricted, Frost said.

“The blood vessels in the heart will constrict, which of course, causes lack of oxygen to the heart which can give you a heart attack,” he said. “That can lead to death right out ... or a dysrhythmia.”

Cocaine can affect the brain in other ways, as well, and can cause hyperthermia. In rare cases, some have reported psychological effects similar to being in a manic state or a state of paranoia, Frost said.

McKnight was released Tuesday from the jail in Darlington after posting a $2,000 bond. Green was released the same day on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond.