Santa Ana – A 41-year-old Las Vegas man has been charged with felony child abuse and endangerment after a three-year-old relative was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Orange County by ambulance and had to be revived with Narcan after ingesting fentanyl during a Fourth of July weekend family trip to Newport Beach.
Eric Duane Bird, 41, of Las Vegas, has been charged with one felony count of felony child abuse and endangerment and one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance. He faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison if convicted on all counts. Bird has pleaded not guilty and is currently being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Bird is accused of travelling from his Las Vegas home with his wife and two teenage children to spend the Fourth of July weekend with his extended family at an Airbnb. After celebrating the Fourth of July at the family Airbnb, a three-year-old relative became extremely itchy and began turning blue and was barely breathing when his parents put him to bed later that night.
The boy’s parents called 911 and paramedics rushed the boy to Children’s Hospital of Orange County by ambulance, administering epinephrine for a possible allergic reaction and then Narcan, after which the toddler began breathing normally again. The toddler tested positive for fentanyl at the hospital.
When Newport Beach police officers searched Bird’s room at the Airbnb, they found a backpack on the ground with a silicone “nectar collector,” which is used for smoking drugs, a container of fentanyl, and burned foil. The backpack, which was on the floor in the bedroom with the door open, was accessible to the three-year-old and other children in the home throughout the holiday weekend.
“Childhood memories of Fourth of July should include fireworks shows, parades, and backyard barbecues, not near-death experiences because a family member cared more about their addiction than the safety of a child,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “We are grateful for the life-saving measures taken by the Orange County Fire Authority paramedics to prevent another fentanyl-related death, especially the death of an innocent child. We have and will continue to aggressively prosecute fentanyl-related cases in Orange County to send a strong warning to fentanyl dealers and users about the deadly consequences of this drug and the many, many lives that have been stolen from use as a result of fentanyl.”
Deputy District Attorney Bethel Cope-Vega of the Family Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.
If Eric Duane Bird is found guilty, here’s what his sentence might look like:
- Felony child abuse and endangerment (California Penal Code §273a) carries a sentence of 2, 4, or 6 years in state prison.
- Misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance can result in up to 1 year in county jail.
The judge will decide the exact sentence based on factors like:
- How serious the child’s injuries were
- Whether Bird has a prior criminal record
- Whether he shows remorse or cooperates with the court
So, if convicted on all counts, Bird could face up to 6 years in prison, possibly more if there are aggravating circumstances or prior convictions.