BOY, 5, OUSTED OVER HEROIN

The 5-year-old Hartford boy who turned in 20 packets of heroin Monday to
his day-care teacher has been suspended from the pre-school program pending
investigations by police and the state Department of Children and Families,
authorities said.

Jacquline Majors-Myles, the executive director of the YWCA for the Hartford
region, said Wednesday that her agency, which operates the Growing Tree
Early Learning Center on Garden Street in Hartford, took the action because
police have so far been unable to determine how the child obtained the drugs.

Once that is determined, she said, the center will decide whether to
re-enroll the student.

Majors-Mylers said the YWCA educates more than 800 children each day.
Although the organization has programs to teach older children what to do
when they come in contact with illegal drugs, until Monday's incident,
teachers hadn't considered developing an anti-drug program for pre-schoolers.

"It's a shame that children can't be children anymore," she said, adding
that a new, age-appropriate anti-drug program is being considered.

The boy was preparing for recess shortly before noon Monday when he pulled
the bags of heroin, already packed for sale, from his pockets. He told his
teacher he didn't want them anymore, police said.

The teacher immediately reported the incident to the day-care center's
director, who reported it to police and state officials, said Margaret
Nareff, the director of the YWCA's youth programs.

Parents were told about the incident Monday. A letter written by
Majors-Mylers told the 50 parents of children attending the day-care
program, "Let me assure you, at no time was the health or safety of any
other child or staff member at risk."

On Wednesday morning, children could be heard laughing from the center's
lobby. "We tried to keep things normal for them," Nareff said.

Since the incident, DCF and police have launched separate investigations.
The boy's mother, Maurene DaCosta, 34, of Hartford, was charged with risk
of injury to a minor. But police are testing the packages for fingerprints
to determine who might have had the drugs prior to their coming into the
boy's possession.

DaCosta declined to be interviewed Wednesday. She has said she does not
know how her son got the drugs.

The boy was not living with his mother as of Wednesday. DCF has not taken
custody, and the family does not have a DCF case file, said agency
spokesman Gary Kleeblatt.