Father of overdosing child also facing charges

The father of a three-year-old child who overdosed on drugs has been arrested, days after the child’s mother was arrested on the same charge.

According to the Columbus Police Department, officers have arrested 35-year-old Dennis Roberts II on a felony charge of neglect of a dependent on Monday.

A child was brought to Fire Station 1 at Jackson Street at about 11:50 in the morning on Friday with symptoms of an opioid overdose. Medics took the child to the hospital and police were called to the scene. That’s where they found the mother, 36-year-old Dakota Smith. After serving search warrants at a home on Suburban Court and Smith’s vehicle, police concluded that the child overdosed on heroin or fentanyl that was among Smith’s belongings.

The child was treated at the hospital and later released. She was also arrested on a felony charge of neglect of a dependent.