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Grandmother charged in death of 2-year-old boy who tested positive for methadone

Posted at 12:35 PM, Mar 29, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-29 15:35:20-04

A warrant has been issued for a woman charged in the Wednesday death of her 2-year-old grandson.

Norma Caraballo is charged with child endangerment for after her grandson overdosed on methadone while she cared for him, according to a Cleveland Municipal Court documents. 

Officers were called to MetroHealth Medical Center for a report of a boy who was admitted in full arrest after ingesting methadone, according to police records.

A hospital nurse told police that the child's mother arrived at the hospital on Monday at 11 p.m. very upset.  

Caraballo, 45, is a recovering heroin addict who takes methadone "on a daily basis" and is the boy's primary caregiver while his mother is at work.

The woman told police the child was with his grandmother when she went off to work at 7 a.m. She later returned for her lunch break and her son seemed to be "sad and clingy," and told her "don't go stay home," police records said. 

At 3:22 p.m. the woman received a text from Caraballo saying the child was tugging at his ears as if he was sick and she needed to take him to the doctor.

The child was asleep in his crib at 7 p.m., the woman told police. She checked his diaper and noticed it was dry. At 10 p.m. she checked his diaper again and realized he was not breathing and unresponsive. 

The investigation into the death of the child is ongoing.