Uncle arrested after 10-year-old girl dies from fentanyl, animal tranquilizer
GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - An arrest has been made in the death of a Greenville County girl who was reportedly found to have drugs in her system.
The coroner said 10-year-old Ivy Rayne Stowe was found in cardiac arrest at a home on Paris View Drive on Jan. 12. She passed away at Greenville Memorial Hospital after being transported by EMS.
After an autopsy and toxicology testing, the coroner determined Stowe died from the combined toxic effects of fentanyl and xylazine. Xylazine, also known as “tranq” or the “zombie drug,” is a horse tranquilizer that is not approved for use in humans.
On Thursday, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office arrested Stowe’s uncle, 37-year-old Zachary Taylor McClure, in connection with the death. Stowe was living with McClure at the time and investigators said they discovered he had been using fentanyl in the home around the child.
“Investigators believed the availability of the drug within the home contributed to the child’s death,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a release.
McClure is charged with homicide by child abuse. He was denied bond during a hearing on Friday morning.
His defense attorney Bill Yarborough said McClure has been in a treatment program for the last two months and his family is supporting him.
“It’s a tragedy,” Yarborough said. “We’ll deal with it one day at a time like he has.”
The Food and Drug Administration said xylazine is approved for use in animals as a sedative and pain reliever, but warned healthcare professionals in 2022 that it is being detected in more drug overdose cases. Experts said it’s used as an additive because it’s cheaper than fentanyl.
“Naloxone may not be able to reverse its effects,” the FDA reported.
In addition to slowing breathing, xylazine can also cause skin to rot at injection sites which is how it has come to be called the “zombie drug.”
READ MORE: DEA warns of flesh-rotting ‘zombie drug’ mixed with fentanyl
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