The death of a teen in June at Washoe County’s Kids Kottage was confirmed this week to be the result of an accidental fentanyl overdose.
“[The adolescent was] found unresponsive in her bed at Kids Cottage,” a Medical Examiner’s Office employee said. “She was transported to Renown Regional Medical Center and was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Her manner of death was an accident. Her cause of death was acute fentanyl intoxication.”
County spokesperson Bethany Drysdale said the county will not comment on the death and that an investigation is ongoing.
Drsydale said the Kids Kottage campus is not closed, and youth are free to come and go under certain circumstances.
“Children have the opportunity to leave the premises for approved activities,” she said. “However, staff make ongoing efforts to keep dangerous items/substances off campus via screening and metal detectors. It is unknown how the fentanyl got into the building.”
Kids Kottage, an emergency foster shelter, is a Washoe County facility, but it is operated by Adams and Associates, Inc., a private company.
A source with knowledge of the death said the building where the teen was sleeping was quarantined after the death.
“They just got all the kids up in the middle of the night and took them out of the building,” the source said. That building has been closed; however, Kids Kottage is bursting at the seams.
The source said at least 20 children were sleeping in the common areas, living rooms and waiting rooms.
Drug overdoses have skyrocketed in recent years, with most of those from opioids and fentanyl in particular.
