3-Year-Old Dies After Parents Drug Child; Couple Charged in Court

MILWAUKEE, WI — Just how widespread and tragic are drug abuse cases in Milwaukee County? Here's a sobering statistic: based on information gathered in Milwaukee County, the Medical Examiner estimates the County is on track to log 444 deaths related to drug overdoses in 2017 alone.

For perspective, that's approximately 100 more deaths than all of the people who died in auto accidents in Milwaukee County - over the last five years.

Couple Charged in 3-Year-Old's Death

A Milwaukee couple has been charged in court after their three-year-old child died of an apparent drug overdose.

In a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County, Darrell Woodson, 35, and Margarita Balderas, 34, are charged after police say they were responsible for administering the drugs that ultimately killed their child.

According to their criminal complaint, the couple regularly gave their children drugs to alter their behavior, calling the drugs "chill pills."

The complaint states that they even went so far as to put oxycodone - a powerful pain killer - in their child's bottle.

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According to their criminal complaint, the couple's three year old daugher, London, died in August. Investigators found that the child had a high level of oxycodone as well as other drugs in her blood stream. Investigators concluded that the child had been drugged.

According to the criminal complaint, Woodson and Balderas were drug dealers who routinely gave their children prescription drugs.

On the fateful day in August, the couple left London in the care of their 14-year-old sister. It wasn't very long before their daughter noticed that London was behaving out of the ordinary, the complaint stated.

The criminal complaint states that the daughter - who was alone in the house - called 911 after London was observed sweating and struggling to breathe. Despite lifesaving measures at the hospital - it was ultimately too late. She died two days later.

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