GRANT TOWNSHIP, Mich — FOX 17 is learning new details leading up to the death of a 4-year-old boy in Oceana County, after he died at a hospital earlier this month.
FOX 17 is not identifying the child or parents as it is an open investigation.
According to documents received through a Freedom of Information Act request, officials were called to a home off West Clay Road in Grant Township on July 1st after getting reports that the child wasn't breathing.
Officials arrived at the home shortly before 3:30pm. In the documents, they say due to the condition of the home and debris scattered by the front door, they had some difficulty getting in. The first responder on scene told dispatch that crews would need to go through the side door instead.
When the first responder got into the home, he says he saw the boy's dad trying to do CPR on him and says he was doing it poorly. The responder took over compressions and asked if there were medications or anything the boy could have gotten into and said dad told him no.
The little boy was taken to Lakeshore Hospital in Shelby, where he died.
Officials say the kid's dad told him the boy wouldn't wake up so he had called 911. Documents show the child's father told officials his mouth was foamy and that his son had been having a toothache for days.
They also said the child had felt hot to the touch, was given ibuprofen and at one point, the child's tooth was pushed on and puss came out.
According to documents, the boy's mom and infant brother were also home at the time and were in the bedroom.
Documents also detail conditions of the home inside which officials say contained a moldy, unusable kitchen sink, a lock on the refrigerator, the ceiling falling down and flies everywhere which officials said made the place uninhabitable.
The report says once a search warrant was filed, several items of drug paraphernalia were confiscated.
Officials also said the parents admitted to using marijuana, and the mom said she snorted heroin the day her son died to help her sleep.
Investigators say the couple has seven kids, many of whom were interviewed as part of the case. Some said they were aware of their parents' drug use and that they were trying to quit.
The kids were later put into the care of their grandparents.
Officials did run criminal checks on the parents and say the dad had multiple charges as a juvenile and that there was no criminal history for the mother.
As part of the investigation, they also spoke to neighbors, who told them they often fed the kids.
According to documents, officials are still awaiting toxicology reports in the case and have not released a cause of death.
FOX 17 reached out to the Oceana County Prosecutor who cannot comment at this time since it's an open investigation.
