Boy, 6, chewed on drug-tainted $1 bill, died of overdose, charge against Maple Plain mother says

A woman was accused Friday of being responsible for the fentanyl overdose death of her 6-year-old son who apparently chewed on a drug-tainted dollar bill in a Maple Plain home.

Brittany E. Ferrell, 29, stands charged in Hennepin County District Court in connection with the May 27 death of Oaklee Hirsch at his grandparents' house in the 5300 block of Clayton Drive, where Oaklee and his parents had been living for the past three years.

Ferrell was charged by summons and has a court appearance scheduled for Nov. 15. Messages were left for Ferrell seeking a response to the allegations. Court records do not list an attorney for her.

The boy's online obituary said Oaklee attended Spero Academy, a special needs charter school in Minneapolis, and "it was one of his favorite places to be. ... He was wonderfully supported there."

The obituary noted that Oaklee "had the ability to make anyone fall in love with him. It was hard not to with those big beautiful brown eyes and blonde curly hair that bounced in the sunshine. Oaklee had enthusiasm beyond imagination!"

According to the criminal complaint and other court records:

Oaklee's father, 34-year-old Brandon Hirsch, called 911 about 2:45 a.m. and said the boy appeared to have overdosed and that he gave his son two doses of Narcan, a drug that can revive a person suffering from an overdose.

A West Hennepin police officer arrived and saw Ferrell and the boy's grandmother kneeling over Oaklee while attempting to resuscitate him. The officer took over lifesaving efforts. Emergency medical responders soon declared Oaklee dead at the scene.

Hirsch said he was sleeping in the living room that night as usual, and Ferrell was in a bedroom and asleep with Oaklee. At some point, Ferrell awakened Hirsch and said that "something wasn't right" with their son. Hirsch said he went to the bedroom. He saw Oaklee's lips were blue and he looked like he was overdosing.

The father spotted near the boy's body a dollar bill that he suspected likely had heroin residue on it. It appeared as if Oaklee had been chewing on it.

"The dollar bill in question had burn marks on it, was missing a corner as if it had a bite mark, and was wet to the touch and flat," the criminal complaint read. "[Hirsch] believed the dollar bill was [Ferrell's] because it was in her bedroom."

Oaklee's grandmother told law enforcement that the boy, who is developmentally delayed and autistic, "was known to sometimes chew newspaper and sometimes swallow it or spit it out," according to the complaint.

Hirsch said he had used illicit drugs within the previous 72 hours and that Ferrell had done so with him.

Ferrell admitted having used fentanyl within the past 48 hours, which she said was supposed to have been heroin. Fentanyl is an opioid that can be 50 times as powerful as the same amount of heroin.

The mother said the tainted dollar bill was "on the floor next to her bed, where [Oaklee] had slept and was found unconscious," the complaint continued.

The mother said Oaklee "may have gotten into a dollar bill that had narcotics residue on it," read one court document.

An autopsy concluded that the boy died from "acute fentanyl toxicity," the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office disclosed Thursday.