ST. PAUL, Minn. – The story is all too common. On Christmas Day 2024, police responded to a heartbreaking call: a 1-year-old boy was found unresponsive at a home in St. Paul. According to a criminal complaint, the boy’s parents told authorities that the toddler, Jackson Weidell, likely ingested fentanyl. He died shortly after.
Jackson’s case is not an isolated tragedy.
A recent KARE 11 investigation found that at least 23 children under the age of 8 in Minnesota have died from fentanyl poisoning since 2020. Reporters obtained the data through a public records request of death records.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that fentanyl is taking a deadly toll on the youngest and most vulnerable. As previously reported by Emily’s Hope, poison control centers across the U.S. have seen a sharp rise in cases involving children under the age of six exposed to illicit fentanyl. Calls jumped from ten in 2016 to 539 in 2023, according to a news release from America’s Poison Centers.
Emily’s Hope has reported on several other studies revealing the skyrocketing number of babies and toddlers dying from fentanyl. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that fentanyl was involved in 94% of the deadly pediatric opioid poisonings recorded in 2021, compared to 5% in 1999. More than 5,000 kids have died from fentanyl poisoning over the past two decades.
The KARE 11 report not only examined the number of child deaths, but also the systemic gaps that may contribute to them. Records obtained by the station show that Jackson’s mother, Jasmine Ryan, admitted to using drugs throughout her pregnancies. In just four years, she gave birth to three children, each reportedly born with symptoms of drug withdrawal.
The youngest was born with fentanyl withdrawal just one month before Jackson’s death.
Hospitals are required by law to report suspected prenatal drug exposure to child protective services. Despite repeated signs of substance use and risk, records show Ramsey County placed the family under a “family assessment” program—a less intensive approach than formal child removal or legal action.
