5-year-old Florida boy dies after drinking bottle of apple juice allegedly containing meth, mother charged

A 5-year-old Florida boy died after drinking apple juice that authorities said contained methamphetamine in it, and his mother has been charged in connection with his death. 

Police responded to a report of a child not breathing at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday at an apartment in the 2400 block of Beach Court, Riviera Beach, and found paramedics tending to the young child, Riviera Beach Police said in a news release. 

Responding officers met with a babysitter who said they saw the child grab a bottle of apple juice and drink it. The child then said it “tasted weird” and spit it out, the arrest report said. 

Shortly after, the babysitter noticed the child shivering and shaking. The child was cold to the touch, began to sweat, and rashes started to form on the child’s front, back and arms. 

The babysitter noticed the child go still with his head tilted down and began administering CPR. 

The boy vomited “black stuff” and suffered seizure-like symptoms, the report said. 

The child was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital in critical condition after ingesting the methamphetamine and died, police said.

Police officers questioned the boy’s mother, 37-year-old Heather Opsincs, who claimed she did not recently consume any recreational drugs and never used illegal drugs. However, she failed a field drug test and tested positive for methamphetamines twice. 

A toxicology test from the hospital for the boy also showed he tested positive for methamphetamines.  

A search warrant executed at the apartment led to the discovery of six glass cylinder pipes that tested positive for methamphetamines.

The one room apartment was also described as “unkempt” and “rather deplorable” with rotting food and trash littered about, the arrest report said.

Opsincs was arrested and charged with neglect aggravated manslaughter in the boy’s death. 

She made her first appearance in court on March 25, where she was ordered to have no contact with witnesses or minor children. 

Opsincs is currently being held in Palm Beach County jail with bond set at $100,000. She was further ordered not consume drugs or alcohol, cannot bear firearms or weapons and will be subject to random drug testing at her expense as part of bond conditions.

NBC News has reached out to a public defender for Opsincs for comment.