Two Louisiana Babies Saved by Narcan, Fathers Charged with Cruelty

Metairie, LA (KPEL News) - Narcan saved the lives of two New Orleans-area babies, and their fathers have been arrested and are charged with cruelty in the cases.

On Friday night, Tran Truong went into a store on West Esplanade Avenue in Metairie. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office told nola.com that his 2-year-old son and his 10-month-old sibling were left in the car with Truong's wife. The toddler managed to grab and eat some of the heroine that was in the center console. When Truong got back to the car, officials say he "had a substance coming from his mouth" and had stopped breathing.

When they arrived ad East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, doctors gave the child three doses of Narcan to revive him.

Truong told Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department investigators that he had forgotten the heroine he bought earlier in the day was in his car. They don't believe the mother knew the drug was there.

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About an hour later, the department was called to Ochsner Medical Center because a one-year-old girl was taken in for a suspected drug overdose. Her father, Bryan Gonzales Pastor, was taking care of her at their apartment in Metairie. He left the room, and the baby was unresponsive when he returned. The Sheriff's Office reports that first responders administered Narcan to revive her. Investigators told NOLA.com that they believe she ingested crushed Oxycodone pills that were left where she could reach them. Oxycodone is an opioid painkiller.

Both Truong and Pastor were arrested and charged with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and drug possession.

Pastor also faces charges in connection with violation of his probation for a March incident. NOLA.com dived into court records and found that he had a 10-year suspended sentence and three years of probation after pleading guilty to second-degree battery, aggravated assault with a firearm, and resisting an officer.

These are just the latest reports of children overdosing from drugs their parents had. According to WWL TV, in July, a Metairie mother, Tina Burton, brought her one-year-old daughter to the Third District Volunteer Fire Department for the second time in less than two months because the child had overdosed. Both times, firefighters had to use Narcan to revive the toddler.