Dad accused of neglect after son dies of drug overdose (Port Orange, Florida)

Dad MICHAEL REESE has been charged with neglect after his 14-year-old son died of a drug overdose on the family room couch.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-father-charged-neglect-093009,0,7434386.story

Father accused of neglect after son dies of overdose

Michael Louis Reese
Sentinel Staff Writer

5:20 p.m. EDT, September 30, 2009

The father of a Port Orange teenager who died Saturday of an apparent accidental drug overdose was arrested today on a charge of neglect of a child.

Michael Reese, 52, was arrested on a warrant signed by Judge Raul Zambrano, Port Orange police Capt. Frank Surmaczewicz said.

Paramedics responded to Reese's home on Bent Oak Lane a little after 8 a.m. Saturday and found 14-year-old Jeremiah Reese dead on the family room couch, Surmaczewicz said. Reese was trying to wake his some when the rescue workers arrived.

The house was in total disarray and pill bottles, pills and associated paraphernalia were scattered through the house, Surmaczewicz said.

An autopsy showed opiates and THC in Jeremiah's system, Surmaczewicz said.

Reese was booked into the Volusia Branch Jail with bail set at $30,000.