BABY'S DEATH CAUSED BY PAINKILLER OVERDOSE

Pueblo police are investigating the June 2 drug overdose death of a baby as
a "suspicious death," according to detective Mike Bethel of the crimes
against children unit.

Toxicology results received by the Pueblo County coroner's office on
Thursday showed that Devon Jace-Riley Radok had lethal levels of oxycodone,
a narcotic found in painkillers, in his system, according to Coroner James
Kramer. The infant was 10 1/2 months old.

Initial autopsy results were inconclusive, and sudden infant death syndrome
was suspected, Kramer said. However, on the day he died, illegal narcotics
were found at the apartment of Devon's mother, Jennifer Radok, 20, who
lives in the 4000 block of O'Neal Avenue, according to Bethel, prompting
the toxicology tests that revealed the cause of his death.

None of the illegal substances was found in the baby's system, and no
medications containing oxycodone were found in Radok's apartment, Bethel said.

The lethal threshold for oxycodone in the blood is about 500 nanograms,
according to Kramer. The child had 708 nanograms in his bloodstream,
according to a report prepared by Werner Jenkins, a forensic toxicologist
with the El Paso County coroner's office.

"The threshold for toxicity is relative to size and weight of a patient, as
well as dosage," Kramer said. "The standard probably wasn't developed with
children in mind because (oxycodone) is not recommended for infants."

Most drugs that include oxycodone are not recommended to children under age
18, Bethel said.

"There's no reason for a child of this age to have this kind of drug in his
system," the detective said.

Police are exploring how the child got the medication. His maternal
grandmother was on a prescription medication that contained oxycodone, but
investigators are not sure whether that was the source of the drug, Bethel
said.

Radok, her boyfriend and one of her sisters were around Devon most,
according to the detective.

Signs that the baby took pills in their complete form or in large pieces
were not evident during the autopsy, Kramer said. The child's metabolic
system already had begun to break down the medication, he said.

"The question is: How did this child ingest this medication?" Kramer said.

Bethel said the possibility that Devon took the pills on his own by
accident has not been ruled out, but seems unlikely because a child's
natural reaction would be to spit out the bitter morsels.

At this early juncture in the investigation, Bethel said it is too soon to
tell whether the medication was administered maliciously or accidentally.

"At this point, all I'm certain of is that we're conducting a very serious
investigation into a very suspicious death," Bethel said.