Urine, Feces Found In Sink, Tub Of Syracuse Home Where 11YO Boy Was Found Dying From "Cocktail" Of Fentanyl, Cocaine, & Cannabis

[Sugar Cookie]

An 11-year-old boy who died in a Syracuse home on Thursday had three drugs in his system, his great-aunt said.

The boy, Ashton DeGonzaque, a sixth-grader at Grant Middle School, was taken to Upstate University Hospital on Thursday where he died, police said. Police are investigating the boy’s death.

The boy had cocaine, fentanyl and cannabis in his system, his great aunt Vickie Homer said Saturday. When she saw her great-nephew at the hospital, she said, a doctor told her tests revealed the drugs. She did not know how the drugs got into his system.

The boy also had bad burns on his legs and two sores on his ankles, she said. His head had been shaved because of lice, she said.

Police went to the home after a 911 call. Officers found the boy unconscious and not breathing. He was in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital and later died, police said.
Homer said she and her brother Robert DeGonzaque had called Onondaga County Child Protective Services multiple times trying to get help for Ashton. Her brother confirmed he had called the county to get the boy help.

“I wish they (CPS) could be sent those pictures of my nephew and what he looked like on that gurney at the hospital, because I’d like to tell them that’s what they helped contribute to by not removing him,” Homer said.

Ashton lived with his father, Jeremy DeGonzaque, his family said. The boy’s mother wasn’t in his life and had moved out of state, they said.

Robert DeGonzaque, Ashton’s great uncle, said he, along with one of his sisters, raised Ashton since he was two months old. He became Ashton’s primary caregiver after his sister died a few years ago, making sure he was fed, going to school, taking his medication and taking him to supervised visits with his mother, he said.

But in October, Robert DeGonzaque moved to Virginia to live near his son. At 71 years old, he said, he wanted to spend more time with his family in Virginia.

Before leaving, he said he gave various providers notice that he was moving. He met with them in August to ensure Ashton would be taken care of, he said.

That included promises by CPS to get Ashton Supplemental Security Income benefits, to take him to a facility for six months while his father got help, Robert DeGonzaque said. He said CPS said they would get someone from the Salvation Army to show Ashton’s father how to prioritize spending money on necessities.

Robert DeGonzaque said he kept checking with CPS after moving, concerned that Ashton’s father was on drugs. Caseworkers told him that they went by the apartment on East Division Street every couple of weeks and told him that the concerns were unfounded, that Ashton was being fed and that his father was testing clean for drugs, he said.

“I don’t know how he fell through the cracks. I wished I could’ve stayed there,” Robert DeGonzaque said.

The apartment where Jeremy and Ashton were living was a known drug house, Homer said. A neighbor who asked not to be identified said on any given day she would see about 10 strangers coming and going from the apartment. They were noticeably high, she said.

Many of the apartment’s windows were broken and garbage bags were hung to cover them, the neighbor said.

One day Ashton discovered someone who had died of an overdose, Homer said. She said the CPS workers told her the dead body wasn’t enough for Ashton to be removed.

“I can’t even tell you the disbelief that we had after we heard like somebody dying in there and ODing is not enough,” Homer said.

Homer said that one day she picked up her great-nephew from school. He could sometimes have anger issues and broke a window at the school. When she was picking him up, a teacher said she had barely seen him that marking period, she said.

By the time he reached sixth grade, Robert DeGonzaque said Ashton was reading at a third-grade level.

Absence from school is an indicator of maltreatment, according to the state Office of Children and Family Services. “Destructive, aggressive or disruptive behavior” is an indication of physical abuse, according to the website.

The home also had bedbugs and Ashton had lice when he died, Homer said. Personal care and personal hygiene issues are also signs of maltreatment, according to the website.

“They failed him,” Homer said. “This could have been prevented. If they would have removed him from that house, he could be alive right now.”

https://www.syracuse.com/crime/2024/03/cocaine-fentanyl-found-in-boy-who-died-in-syracuse-cps-ignored-calls-for-help-family-says.html

The first floor apartment of 604 E. Division St. had urine and feces in the tub and sink, so much that both were backed up, according to a report by Syracuse Code Enforcement.

There were also bottles filled with urine in what appeared to be a child’s bedroom, according to the inspection and violation report. The inspection was done March 8, after Ashton was found in full cardiac arrest and later died at Upstate University Hospital.

Aside from the feces and urine found the day Ashton died, there was trash strewn throughout the house, according to the code violation report. The windows were broken and there was no heat or light, according to the report.

The landlord, Tony Borelli, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

A child protective caseworker and supervisor have been put on unpaid leave because of Ashton’s death.

Family members, community members and school officials made multiple reports to CPS about the child’s living conditions. Several told Syracuse.com that their concerns fell on deaf ears. In November, Ashton found a dead man in the apartment. The apparent cause of death there was a drug overdose, as well.

https://www.syracuse.com/news/2024/03/urine-feces-found-in-sink-tub-of-syracuse-home-where-11-year-old-child-was-found-dying.html

The caseworker and case supervisor assigned to 11-year-old Ashton DeGonzaque have resigned, just under three weeks after his death.

An official in the Onondaga County executive's office gave word of the resignations Wednesday, saying it comes as the county wraps up an internal investigation into the performance of both workers.

The county said the investigation found termination was warranted, and proceedings already were underway when both chose to resign.

CPS workers in DeGonzaque case resign following boy's death

The county investigation found termination was warranted.

spectrumlocalnews.com

The father has not been arrested.

 

[cubby]

The caseworkers should be arrested and tried for murder, if they had done the job that they were being paid to do, Ashton would still be alive, a termination is just not good enough.