The Hopkins County Coroner’s Office has released the cause of death for eight-year-old Trey Harris.
Only a few days after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said tests on strawberries that were thought to possibly be tied Trey’s death came back “negative,” the Hopkins County Coroner’s Office says the child died from a fentanyl overdose, according to a report by WFIE.com.
Trey died on March 15 after eating strawberries sold as a fundraiser by Madisonville North Hopkins High School and Hopkins County Central High School.
Multiple health departments in western Kentucky issued alerts regarding the strawberries following Trey’s death, and other people who ate the strawberries complaining of being ill.
On March 26, the Madisonville Police Department executed a search warrant related to Trey’s death investigation and located a large amount of fentanyl in the home the boy shared with his stepfather, 33-year-old Antonio M. Person.
Person was arrested and charged with trafficking in a controlled substance (fentanyl), possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was also served with two warrants.
With the announcement that Trey died from a fentanyl overdose, Person was additionally charged with second-degree manslaughter. He’s being held in the Hopkins County Detention Center on a $1 million cash bond.
The investigation continues as police are attempting to determine how Trey came into contact with the fentanyl.
(Headline photo l-r: Trey Harris (courtesy of Legacy.com), Antonio M. Person)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
