FAIRMONT, W.Va. — A 38-year old Fairmont woman, who police say has a history of drug use, has been charged with child neglect resulting in death following the overdose death of a 16-year-old in her care.
According to Fairmont Police Detective Zachary Buck, police were called to the home of Raianna Arnold at around 9 a.m. on Nov. 2 and made the discovery in a bedroom.
“Dispatched to Columbia Street for a cardiac arrest,” Buck said. “Upon our arrival a 16-year-old juvenile female was located in a bedroom in the apartment deceased.”
Following an investigation at the scene, police found drugs and paraphernalia near the body of the teenager which resulted in the arrest of Arnold.
“The cause of death was a drug overdose,” Buck said Thursday. “For that reason the resident/tenant of the apartment was arrested for having drugs in the house.”
According to Buck, Arnold is not a stranger to police.
“She’s a known user and known to have drugs in the house,” he said. “We actually located burnt foil which is associated with smoking heroin or some kind of amphetamine, close to where the 16-year-old was located.”
According to police reports, the father of the teenager lives out-of-state, but the biological mother is a Fairmont resident and could face charges as result of the ongoing investigation.
“A local here in Fairmont. also a known abuser, she brought her to a friend’s house to watch her and she was only there for about two days before she passed,” Buck said.
He said police always investigate tips from the public and are working hard to stop drug activity in the city.
“We definitely are trying to clean up Fairmont, we know we have a bad drug problem,” Buck said. “So, we’ll do anything we can do get drugs out of the hands of adults and kids.”
Arnold is being held in the North Central Regional Jail in Lieu of a $175,000 bond.