According to a news release, a woman from Fort Lee is being charged with endangering the safety of a child and other related crimes after a 12-year-old girl died from an overdose.
According to a statement from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the girl died Saturday after being found unconscious at a home on Maple Street in Fort Lee.
Officers were called to the house at 3:34 p.m. and the girl was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where she was declared dead, according to the news release.
Authorities say that Frances Caso, 48, is being charged with putting children in danger, having drugs, and having drug tools.
Along with the victim, Caso and three other teens were in the house at the time of the accident, the statement says. The report says that police found drug tools and several drugs in the house.
When asked if Caso and the girl were dating, the prosecutor’s office did not say and did not reply right away to an email asking for comment.
“The investigation into the amount of drugs that the victim took that killed them is still going on.” “While the investigation is still going on, no more information will be made public,” the statement says.
An automated message said that a number given for Caso was “unable to receive” a call. A call was made to a different number given for Caso, but no one answered. Unfortunately, we were unable to get in touch with her for feedback.
A complaint was sent to the Bergen County Jail so that the person could make their first court appearance in Hackensack’s Central Judicial Processing Court, according to the statement.
A joint probe between the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, the Narcotic Task Force, and the Special Victims Unit and the Fort Lee Police Department looked into the death of the child and the drug crimes that happened around it, the statement says.
Three counts of third-degree endangering the safety of a child, two counts of third-degree drug possession, and one count of fourth-degree possession of drug paraphernalia have been brought against Caso.