5-Year-Old Gives Teacher Packets of Heroin

Jan. 24 -- Teachers and officials at the Growing Tree Early Learning Center in Hartford, Conn., are still wondering what led to a 5-year-old boy handing packets of heroin to his teacher.

"Everyone was stunned and concerned obviously," said Margaret Nareff, the director of youth services overseeing the day-care center.

On Monday morning, the child told his teacher he had something he didn't want anymore, reached into his jacket and handed over two small plastic bundles labeled "overdose," Nareff said.

Inside his clothing, there were 18 more, according to police reports.

Fortunately, said Hartford Police Sgt. Neil Dryf, the packets were all sealed.

"If the kids started chewing on them or handing them out to friends," the drugs could have posed a serious or even fatal health risk, he said.

When the preschooler came to him, the teacher told the center's director, who called police and state child welfare officials.

Mother Charged With Endangering Child

The boy's mother, Maureen Dacosta, was charged with risk of injury to a minor, a felony.

She was released on bail Tuesday after appearing in Hartford Superior Court.

"I'm not crazy enough to let my son get into drugs. It's too scary," DaCosta, a postal worker, told the Hartford Courant. "I don't know where my son got it. I love my son; I'd put my life on it."

Police were testing fingerprints found on the packets in an effort to determine who owned the drugs.

"We're hoping to make additional arrests," said Dryf. He did not rule out the possibility of additional charges against Dacosta.

According to police, drug dealing is not uncommon in the neighborhood, and they were looking into whether the child had simply found the drugs in the area.

The 5-year-old would not return to school while the investigation was proceeding, said Nareff.

She said the incident was the first of its kind at the day-care center.

The Growing Tree Early Learning Center, which is run by the YWCA, serves a some 700 children a day, drawn from a diverse population throughout the area, she said.