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Home / World

New York mum discovers her daughter brought home crack cocaine from daycare

By news.com.au
news.com.au·
14 Oct, 2018 12:54 AM3 mins to read

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New York mum Sabrina Straker with her daughter Serenity. Photo / Supplied

New York mum Sabrina Straker with her daughter Serenity. Photo / Supplied

A New York mum was shocked when her four-year-old daughter brought crack cocaine home from daycare. Mum Sabrina Straker's daughter Serenity told her she had capsules and had put one in her mouth.

It's unclear how the young girl got her hands on the drug, but she told her mother another child at daycare gave her the capsules while they were playing together, telling her they were "teeth".

"Had my daughter ingested the capsule and not spit it out, I would be planning a funeral," Ms Straker, of the Bronx, told local news station Fox 21 News.

"Luckily because she spit it out, she's still here," Ms Straker said.

Serenity showed her mother the capsules when she arrived home that evening.

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"Inside was something small and white, which she described as a tooth — looked like rocks, or pebbles. Then I was curious," Ms Straker said.

"She comes back, 'Well Mummy, I have a lot of his teeth,' so then I have a third capsule," she said.

That's when the mum contacted police.

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"This can't be what I'm thinking it is, because how could that be in a preschool?" she said.

Local New York Police confirmed Ms Straker's suspicions after testing the capsules.

"Low and behold whatever this test kit is, it was blue and he said, 'This is what it is. That's what that means. This is crack cocaine.' I said 'What? Come again? No, I didn't just hear that," Ms Straker said.

She rushed her daughter to the local hospital because she was acting out of character.

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"She couldn't sit down, she was beyond bouncy, very loquacious, just all over the place, literally, talking to herself, looking in the mirror, saying she sees three of herself. Once they did the urine test it came back positive that she had cocaine in her system," the horrified mum said.

The director of Serenity's daycare centre, Yvette Joseph, believes the capsules were thrown over the fence of the daycare centre, but police say one child was passing them around like candy.

"Whatever it was, we think the person threw it over the fence to get rid of it," Ms Joseph said

"We did a thorough check. The children are fine. We called the parents."

But Serenity's mother wants the authorities to close the centre down.

"I want the school to be shut down. I don't feel it's safe for anybody's child. If they can't keep eyes on them, the don't need to be in their care, because this is something very serious," she said.

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