With her three kids in her van, a mother OD’d on heroin on the interstate, cops say
Most children were out in costume Halloween night, trick or treating and getting stuffed on candy. That wasn’t the case for Tiffany Smith’s three kids.
Smith, 28, was taking her 12-, 7- and 1-year-old on a five-hour road trip to her sister’s house in South Carolina. Her two dogs were also along.
While driving up Interstate 4 in Volusia County, her back started to hurt. Instead of taking Advil or ibuprofen, she pulled the van over on the side of I-4 and took heroin, deputies said.
Then the drug started to take a toll on her. She slipped into unconsciousness. She had overdosed.
Frantically her 12-year-old called 911. On audio released by Volusia deputies, the girl was crying, screaming, and her voice was shaking.
“Mom! Mom!” someone yelled in the background as the operator asked what the emergency was.
“My mom won’t wake up and we’re on I-4 in the car,” the 12-year-old cried into the phone.
The operator tried to calm the girl down as she confused which interstate she was on and didn’t know where she was. She told the operator she was able to put the car in neutral because she didn’t know how to put it in park.
Seconds later, passing deputies pulled up behind the minivan and took control of the situation.
Paramedics gave Smith a dose of Narcan. She woke and told deputies what had happened and how she was taking the kids to South Carolina, but did not say where she was driving from.
Her children were not injured and were placed in the custody of their grandmother. The two dogs were turned over to Volusia County Animal Control officers.
Smith was taken to AdventHealth Fish Memorial hospital, where she was in stable condition. Later she will be booked at the Volusia County Branch Jail, but the sheriff’s office did not say what she will be charged with.
This story was originally published November 1, 2019 at 4:56 PM.
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