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An eight-year-old boy died after eating his father’s methamphetamine stash in Jackson County, Indiana on June 21.
The boy’s father, Curtis Collman II, told police officers that his son woke him up in the morning to ask for food, as reported by WDRB last Friday, Aug. 3. Collman recounted that he replied to his son by saying that there was no food available in the house.
However, the suspect admitted to having methamphetamine which was placed on a clear glass plate in the kitchen area. The probable cause affidavit noted that the plate had a “brownish in color, crystal-like substance” on it. A toxicology report released on Thursday, Aug. 2 states that the boy ingested 180 times the lethal limit of meth, reports Seymour newspaper The Tribune.
“Methamphetamine can be brownish in color, and crystal-like,” stated the police. “One officer commented the brown crystal on the plate could have been mistaken for cereal crumbs with no lights in the apartment.”
Collman told the police that when his son woke him up again, he “was not acting right,” the report said. The eight-year-old boy was “laying there, talking to his brother, who was not there.” Afterward, the boy began twitching, “bouncing his face on the floor” and scratching his own face.
Collman said that his son appeared to have a high temperature then so the suspect poured water on him to cool him down. He described the boy’s condition as “bad,” saying that he had to resort to calling a female friend over to help him out.
The female friend told officers that when she arrived before 11 a.m. at the suspect’s house, the boy complained he was having trouble with his vision. In an effort to placate the eight-year-old, she sang to him and told the father that he needed to call 911 and bring the boy to a hospital. However, Collman refused, ripping the phone out of her hand after telling her he wasn’t going to be jailed again.
Collman left the room where the friend and the eight-year-old were staying, and returned with a silver handgun, threatening to kill all three of them. The female friend made her escape, scared out of her wits, afraid that the suspect would “hunt her down.” Her phone was left in the hands of the suspect.
The probable cause affidavit tells another story of the meeting. Collman’s account said that his female friend stayed for about an hour. They argued over a boyfriend who had called her. He recalled that she told him to bring the child to the hospital but he said that the boy was fine.
When the woman left, the probable cause affidavit states that Collman discovered his son was stiff but “not stiff as in dead stiff, like muscle-spasm stiff,” the report stated. The suspect brought the child to his mother’s home and noted that the child then was able to talk to him normally.
Collman’s mother told the police that the father and son arrived at about 1 p.m. She said that the suspect “became upset” after she advised him to call 911. Collman said that by that time, the boy became so stiff they were not able to move him. The eight-year-old started turning blue and the suspect said he tried to perform CPR on the child.
Sometime during the father and son’s visit, Collman’s mother stated that a man in the home called 911. The suspect left but returned not long after, “hysterical, crying and acting crazy.” Collman drove away after hugging his son, begging him not to leave him and saying he will kill himself.
The eight-year-old died shortly after being taken to Schneck Medical Center, the report said. The police noted that the boy needed medical help for four hours before the hospital was contacted. When Collman was told that his son died due to methamphetamine ingestion, he broke down and cried, telling officers he thought the boy had ingested bleach and Pine-Sol.
The police begged to differ, however, stating that the suspect “scattered the meth off the plate, hid some in his pocket, and hid some inside clothes behind a television set.”
Collman was arrested on the same day the incident happened. He is currently facing several felony charges which include neglect of a dependent, pointing a firearm, possession of methamphetamine and intimidation. Kate Matriano/NVG
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