FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – A mother has been formally charged after one of her children died and another overdosed after getting into her pills which contained fentanyl.

Kiara A. Johnson, 22, was charged with:

Kiara Johnson, 22
  • Neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury (Level 3 Felony)
  • Neglect of a dependent causing death (Level 1 Felony)
  • Possession of Cocaine or Narcotic drug (Level 6 Felony)
  • Neglect of a dependent (Level 6 Felony)

According to the probable cause affidavit, on the evening of Sept. 29, Fort Wayne dispatch received a 911 call from Johnson who told dispatch that her children “got into something.” She said the children got into “Perc 30 pills” with the “M30 small blue 30” which she took from time to time.

Just before 8:30 p.m., Fort Wayne Police Officers were sent to the Fort Wayne apartment on reports of an unknown problem. Court documents said that when they arrived, they found the children lying in the bathtub with the shower spraying water on them. The officers took the children out of the tub and immediately administered Narcan and began CPR.

Johnson told police that she was sitting on her bed with marijuana and a plastic bag of fake “M-30” pills playing games on her phone when the children came in and climbed on the bed. She told them to leave and go play in their room. Documents show that the kids left and shut the door to their room.

The affidavit said that a little while later, Johnson heard one of the children coughing in their bedroom and realized that her pills were gone. When she checked on the children, she said she thought they were sleeping but realized that one of the children was barely breathing and had blue lips.

Johnson’s boyfriend said that they should put the children in the shower and see if that helps, the documents show.

While at the scene, officers report that they found between 10 and 13 “M-30” pills on the children’s bed and a number of pills scattered around the two bedrooms room. An ash tray on Johnson’s bed also contained marijuana.

When officers arrived at the an area hospital around 10:20 p.m., they were told that one of the children had died, the affidavit said. The other child was in stable condition.

The toddler who died has been identified as two-year-old Terris Johnson. An autopsy was conducted and the coroner noted that he saw three things which are common with an overdose death. However, the official cause and manner of death are pending.

Johnson was interviewed again at the hospital where she told police that she knew the pills she purchased on the street were not actually Percocet and that the pills contained fentanyl. She said she “takes two at a time because some are stronger” than others. Johnson said she smoked marijuana everyday and takes the fentanyl pill when she gets depressed.

A test of the pills performed by the Vice and Narcotics units confirmed that the pills contained fentanyl, the affidavit said.

Police later went back to the apartment which smelled of urine. Feces were found speared on the wall in the children’s room. Court documents show that the floor of the children’s room was covered with toys, trash and miscellaneous items. Moldy food was found in the children’s room, master bedroom and kitchen. In the master bedroom, a bag of marijuana was found as well as a loaded “AK47” which Johnson said belonged to her boyfriend. In the living room, police report that the closets were packed roughly three feet high with clothes, toys, plastic bags and miscellaneous items which are a fall hazard or chokings/suffocation risk for toddlers.

Johnson’s hearing is scheduled on Friday.