OAKLAND — Jennifer Witham gets shaky just thinking about the day her neighbor’s child lost consciousness after swallowing cocaine.

Witham, who lives in the same apartment building as the child’s parents, Jillian Jones and Justin Currier, said she rushed to the couple’s aid Thursday when Jones cried out for help.

Additional Photos

Jennifer Witham and her children, Surae, 10, and Haley, 8, are shown on the stairs of their apartment in Oakland. David Leaming/Kennebec Journal

Justin Currier

Jillian Jones

“She came running down the stairs hollering, screaming, ‘Help me. Help me. My baby’s not breathing – she just swallowed cocaine,’” Witham said Monday.

“I flew out that door and got her (Jones) to sit down. She was panicky, shaking. The baby was flopped over her arm.”

Witham, who has two daughters, was frantic. She said she looked at the 18-month-old girl, whose name is Brookelynn, and the toddler looked lifeless and had turned a strange, reddish color.

Jones, who is 21, called 911. It was 10:57 a.m., according to police records.

“She was on the phone with the 911 call center, and the baby was (unconscious) and she wasn’t coming out of it,” Witham said. “They told her to hurry up and get water. I ran into my apartment and got a Dixie cup, and we gave her water; and she was coming out of it, but not all the way.

“Justin,” she said of the child’s father, “was doing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) – breathing in her mouth – to get her to breathe, and she did.”

When the toddler woke up, she started to cry and her eyes were dilated, according to Witham, 40, who told the story Monday while sitting on her porch at 25 Belgrade Road. With her were her daughters, Surae, 10, and Haley, 8, who were aware of what happened Thursday, although they were in school at the time.

“I want them to know about drugs so they don’t ever take them,” Witham said.

The toddler was taken to the hospital Thursday after the incident, and Jones and Currier, 30, were arrested. The baby was released Friday from the hospital.

Jones and Currier are charged with felony endangering the welfare of a child, unlawful possession of drugs (cocaine) and destroying physical evidence, because they reportedly got rid of the cocaine before police arrived, according to police Capt. Rick Stubbert.

Jones was released on $10,000 unsecured bail. Currier was also charged with a probation violation and is in the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta. Both are scheduled to appear Aug. 9 in Kennebec County Superior Court.

John Martins, a spokesman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said Monday he could not discuss specific cases, but he could talk about the steps taken when such incidents occur.

“We absolutely do engage in a safety plan and process,” Martins said. “The safety of the child is of primary concern. We look at it in terms of 24/7. We look at everything in terms of how many people are involved in the safety plan.”

That safety plan has to be agreed upon by the parent, and it has to meet strict department standards, he said.

An emergency family team meeting typically is called, and if a child is placed with a family member of the parent, all of the players must be involved in the planning process and understand what the department is trying to do, according to Martins.

Stubbert said Monday that he had not been told whether the department had placed the child in Jones’ or anyone else’s custody.

Witham said Jones and the child are with Jones’ mother in Bingham.

Witham has been communicating with Jones through Facebook and said Jones plans to move her belongings out of the Oakland apartment soon.

“She (Jones) said the baby is fine. She said she’d let us know when she was going to be in town.

Currier’s sister, Heather Currier, of Lakeland, Fla., said Monday that her brother is a good person who made a mistake and is upset about it.

“I definitely agree that what happened was an awful, awful situation, and poor judgment was used, and it never should have happened in the first place,” she said. “But people do make mistakes, and he is a really, really good person who has a big heart. I know because I grew up with him.

“He’s a wreck and he’s relieved that she’s OK, but he still feels horrible about the whole thing,” she said.

Heather Currier said her brother was on probation for a theft he was involved in about six years ago and could not afford to pay restitution, which is why he remained on probation so long.

“I know he’s a good dad and he never intended for anything like this to happen,” she said.

A family member of Jones declined to comment Monday.

Police are not revealing certain details of the investigation, including how the child got into the cocaine or exactly how quickly the parents notified police.

“A considerable amount of time passed between the time when the baby ingested the cocaine and when they called 911,” Stubbert said Monday.

Witham said Jones told her the cocaine was in a plastic “baggie” in a pocket when the baby somehow got into it. She said Jones flushed the remaining cocaine before police arrived.

Witham said she and her daughters have lived in the three-apartment building for three months and had come to enjoy seeing Jones, Currier and their baby.

“She was always great with Brookelynn,” Witham said.

“She said that it was like an eye-opener – it was her sign from God. When the baby came to from (being unconscious), it was her sign. I don’t know if it was to leave or move on or what she meant by that. It’s hard to say.”

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