Syracuse, N.Y. — An 11-year-old boy who died in a Syracuse home on Thursday had three drugs in his system, his great-aunt said.
The boy, Ashton DeGonzaque, a sixth-grader at Grant Middle School, was taken to Upstate University Hospital on Thursday where he died, police said. Police are investigating the boy’s death.
The boy had cocaine, fentanyl and cannabis in his system, his great aunt Vickie Homer said Saturday. When she saw her great-nephew at the hospital, she said, a doctor told her tests revealed the drugs. She did not know how the drugs got into his system.
The boy also had bad burns on his legs and two sores on his ankles, she said. His head had been shaved because of lice, she said.
Police went to the home at 604 E. Division St. Thursday afternoon after a 911 call. Officers found the boy unconscious and not breathing. He was in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital and later died, police said.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Thomas Blake was unable to confirm if Ashton had drugs in his system. District Attorney William Fitzpatrick declined to comment, citing the police investigation.
Homer said she and her brother Robert DeGonzaque had called Onondaga County Child Protective Services multiple times trying to get help for Ashton. Her brother confirmed he had called the county to get the boy help.
“I wish they (CPS) could be sent those pictures of my nephew and what he looked like on that gurney at the hospital, because I’d like to tell them that’s what they helped contribute to by not removing him,” Homer said.
A county spokesperson declined to comment when reached by syracuse.com | The Post-Standard Saturday, citing the pending investigation.
Ashton lived with his father, Jeremy DeGonzaque, his family said. The boy’s mother wasn’t in his life and had moved out of state, they said.
Robert DeGonzaque, Ashton’s great uncle, said he, along with one of his sisters, raised Ashton since he was two months old. He became Ashton’s primary…
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