2-YEAR-OLD HOSPITALIZED AFTER BEING GIVEN DRUG

Haltom City man faces injury to child charge

HALTOM CITY - Two people were charged Sunday after a 2-year-old boy ingested
a drug from a bottle his mother thought contained a soft drink, police said.

Dillon Everett Stevens was recovering at Cook Children's Medical Center,
where he was listed in fair condition Sunday night.

Police did not file charges against the child's mother, Heather Marie
Stevens, 24, of Fort Worth.

"We don't think there was any intent there to give the child this
substance," Haltom City police Sgt. Tony Veltre said Sunday afternoon. "It
was an accident. . . . [Child Protective Services] was notified last night,
and they spoke to her. What they're going to do with her, I don't know."

Lonnie Dale Lackey, 31, and Tema Denise Strong, 36, both of Haltom City,
were charged with possession of amphetamines after a search of their home
after the incident. Mr. Lackey also was charged with injury to a child.

Officials at the Haltom City Jail declined to arrange an interview Sunday
with Mr. Lackey. Ms. Strong declined to comment, they said.

The 2-year-old ingested gamma-hydroxbutyrio, or GHB, while he and his mother
were visiting the residence in the 1700 block of Higgins Lane, Sgt. Veltre said.

Authorities said GHB gives users a euphoric buzz that lasts for hours. Five
teens in Plano overdosed on the same chemical mixture in May.

Ms. Stevens told police she inadvertently fed the drug to her son.

"The boy became hot and thirsty, and the mother retrieved a bottle from the
refrigerator," Sgt. Veltre said. "Unknown to her, the contents of the bottle
were not soda pop."

Police said Ms. Stevens raised more questions than she answered.

"She hasn't told us what she was doing in the house in the first place," he
said.

The sergeant said the house recently had been under surveillance by officers
from another law enforcement agency, which he declined to name.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett