KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
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The family of 3-year-old E’lah Damone Brown Jr., or EJ, as his family calls him, attended the first court appearance Monday for Tara Ann Huerta, a woman facing several charges in connection with EJ’s death in March.
“I am sick,” said Briana Davis, EJ’s mother. “I have nothing inside of me right now but pain.”
A tearful Davis joined family members in court during Huerta’s appearance.
“It was hard, it was gut-wrenching,” Davis said.
Autopsy results revealed EJ died from acute fentanyl toxicity.
He was staying at Huerta’s apartment at the Woodland Village Apartment Complex, where Davis also lived.
Davis said she’s known Huerta since she moved to Leavenworth a few years ago, and her son was often excited to see Huerta.
“This is something I just didn’t see coming,” Davis said. “I never thought my baby would not make it home from her.”
Huerta faces five charges, including a first-degree murder charge.
She faces a possible life sentence in prison.
A second suspect, Kenneth Hedgecock, faces similar charges.
They were both babysitting EJ on March 26.
Early that morning, Byron Wash said a neighbor knocked on his door around 3:30 a.m., saying EJ was not breathing.
“Immediately, I ran over there and tried to give him CPR, and it was too late,” Wash said.
EJ was taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
“He's always been okay over there,” Wash said. “For something to happen this careless, that's crazy.”
Wash said he’s Davis’ stepfather, but he treated EJ like a biological son.
“He was the life of the party,” Wash said. “He always kept you smiling.”
Wash and Davis want to see the suspects get life in prison.
“She stole someone great from us all, and now you owe us this,” Davis said.
County Attorney Todd Thompson said he’s recently seen several children die from fentanyl.
“The epidemic is not going away, and it's something that this office is fighting its best, and we're using every tool we have,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the best tool is education about the dangers of the drug.
The issue is nationwide, as evidenced by extensive coverage on child fentanyl poisoning from the Scripps News Group.
Huerta asked the judge for a bond reduction so she could “collect her own evidence.”
The judge denied Huerta’s request. Her bond is set at $500,000.
Her next court appearance is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22.
EJ’s family members wore Spiderman-themed clothing in his honor.
“His whole world was Spiderman,” Wash said. “He thought he was Spiderman.”
There’s no question he was his family’s hero.
Now, they’re holding onto his memory and the pain of his loss.
“It's been a lot, but I want to see this till the end,” Wash said.
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