Elkhart parents charged in death of six-month-old boy who had fentanyl, meth toxicity

ELKHART, Ind. -- Owen Miller and Nichole Neely are each facing one count of Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Death and two counts of Neglect of a Dependent in relation to the death of their six-month-old son who died of fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity.

Court documents in the case state Elkhart County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived at the home at 24736 Idlewild Avenue in Elkhart just before 7 p.m. on Jan. 18, after the 43-year-old Miller ran to a neighbor's house seeking medical help for the infant and the neighbor called 911. 

The neighbor is in the medical field and said the boy was still warm to the touch when she began CPR. He died at Elkhart General Hospital at 7:30 p.m.

According to 42-year-old Neely, they boy had been lying down in the bedroom with Miller when she left the room for roughly 10 minutes and went to the kitchen.

She says when she came back to the bedroom, she saw both Miller and the boy asleep on the bed and that the child was limp and not breathing.

That's when Miller woke up and ran to the neighbor's house. 

Officers say they saw trash on the floor, countertops, and table in the kitchen.

"There were open containers of rotting and moldy foods covered in flies throughout the kitchen. There was strong odor, trash, and rotting food in the house," court documents state. "Two other children, who were later identified as Victim 2 (eight years old) and Victim 3 (six years old), were found barefoot in the home. There was a small, electric heater in the living room. In the bedroom the bed was almost completely covered in trash. The door could only be opened about halfway, as the trash on the floor prevented him from opening it further. He observed a baby bottle on the bed containing brownish colored liquid. A small fly was floating inside the baby bottle."

When Miller was questioned at the hospital, he had difficulty spelling the names of his other children.

Officer's observed signs of drug use on Neely's body. She later said that the infant was born premature at home and that she breastfeeds him and supplements that with formula.

An autopsy of the child reveals irritant contact dermatitis (diaper rash), acute pulmonary edema, and blood culture was positive for Staphylococcus epidermis. The cause of death was acute fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity.

The other two children had their urine tested at the hospital and were treated for accidental fentanyl poisoning.