What to Know
- Police are investigating the death of Bianca Abdul as a homicide, the NYPD revealed on Monday
- The girl who was found unconscious in her Staten Island home in March died of an overdose, according to the medical examiner
- Abdul was known to the city's Administration for Children's Services amid allegations of drug abuse and violence
The NYPD said it is investigating the death of a 14-month-old Staten Island girl who overdosed on opioids last year as a homicide.
Police on Monday said they were opening the homicide investigation Monday, nearly 10 months after Bianca Abdul was found lifeless in her crib by an aunt who unsuccessfully tried to revive her. Medical examiners later found she died from a toxic cocktail of morphine and the anti-anxiety drug Valium.
No arrests have been made in the case.
The I-Team previously reported that Abdul was on the city Administration for Children's Service's radar before her fatal overdose. According to sources familiar with the case, at least three complaints about about child abuse were filed between 2015 and 2016. The sources said a 12-year-old was removed from the home in the past, but later returned.
A recent study by the city found that opioids are among the leading cause of poisoning deaths in children under age 9.
The city Health Department confirmed eleven accidental overdose deaths in children in their last three years of data from 2014 to 2016.
Local
In 2014, there were 19 drug-related emergency visits involving children, according to the city's Health Department. In 2015, that number dropped to 12, but then jumped up to 22 in 2016. Figures for 2017 weren't immediately available.
