Dads had been investigated for abuse and neglect before (Port Orange, Florida)

Additional background on dad MICHAEL REESE. There were SIX prior allegations of abuse and neglect involving his son, who recently died of a drug overdose. Seems that until recently, there were two (gay) fathers in the picture. Whether there was ever a mother in the picture is unclear.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD02100309.htm

October 03, 2009

DCF investigated Jeremiah's family

By DEBORAH CIRCELLI
Staff writer

PORT ORANGE -- The state Department of Children & Families investigated six prior allegations of abuse and neglect in the past 10 years involving Jeremiah Reese, including one in which he rode his bike on a major highway at 6 years old while his father slept.

Investigators later found in that report in 2001 that his father, Michael Reese, tested positive for cocaine and was referred to substance abuse treatment.

Jeremiah, 14, died Sept. 26 from what police are calling an accidental overdose from prescription drugs. His father was charged with child neglect Wednesday because police said his prescriptions were found throughout the home and he was asleep when his son ingested the pills.

DCF released reports late Friday, including a hot line call stating Jeremiah died from an overdose of his father's OxyContin and alleging the father was trading his own medication for cocaine.

The reports also say Michael Reese, who has a long history of drug arrests, gave Jeremiah the pills to sell at school. But DCF investigators, who are still investigating the child's death, have not confirmed those claims.

Reese could not be reached Friday.

Investigators stated Cross and Reese -- who DCF said is listed as the biological father on Jeremiah's birth certificate -- are "protective; nurturing; supportive" and the boy "feels loved and is happy with his family." Other reports dealt with claims that Jeremiah was exposed to sexual activity at home, but investigators found no evidence and his fathers believed people were making false reports because they were a gay, interracial couple.

Several neighbors stated this week that Michael Reese was a loving father.

Kim Grass of Port Orange, whose 14-year-old son was best friends with Jeremiah and has known the family for about 10 years, said Reese, despite personal and medical issues, was always protective and worried about Jeremiah's welfare.

"Jeremiah was his life; he really was," Grass said. "He never wanted harm to come to his son."

Teen's drug overdose brings home problem

PORT ORANGE -- Staring out at young boys in black ties and girls in black dresses, Jeremiah Reese's grandmother pleaded with parents to watch their children's every move and not let another child die.

Sobs from about 300 middle and high school students grew louder as the grandmother spoke Thursday night, less than a week after her 14-year-old grandson died from an accidental overdose involving prescription drugs, police said. Teens embraced one another as photos of their classmate's short life flashed on a television screen at Cardwell Funeral Home.

"Children, don't let what happened to Jeremiah happen to you," said his grandmother, Barbara Reese of New York. "It can happen. It can happen. I'm begging and pleading -- watch your children. Know what they are doing. Look at their iPods."

Area middle and high school principals and local law enforcement officials warn that the problem of teens abusing prescription drugs is "alarming" and on an upward trend as children have easy access to the medicine cabinets of their parents and grandparents, or in friends' homes. It's a local, state and national problem as more adults are abusing drugs, such as pain pills, officials say.

Jeremiah, an eighth-grader at Creekside Middle School, was found dead Sept. 26. Preliminary findings showed opiates and marijuana in his system and police reports point to the painkiller OxyContin. In an unrelated incident just two days later, four girls were under the influence of prescription drugs at New Smyrna Beach Middle School, police say, and could face felony charges.

"It scares me and makes me worry for our kids," New Smyrna Beach Middle School Principal Jim Tager said. "I couldn't more strongly ask that we get help from parents in our community and grandparents to keep these prescriptions away from our kids."

Educational information will be handed out later this month countywide as part of Red Ribbon week, warning parents to take precautions, including locking up their medications.

"The issue today is not as much the drug dealer on the street, but more what they are getting out of the medicine cabinet," said Tim Egnor, principal at Spruce Creek High School, which reported about a handful of cases so far this year.

"It's not a school issue alone," Egnor and other principals say. Exchanging of pills is happening wherever kids gather, including parks and churches, Egnor said.

Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare's figures reflect the problem. About 4.6 percent of 607 assessments of teens in its residential and out-patient substance abuse treatment programs in the fiscal year ending in June had prescription drug abuse as their main problem compared to 1.85 percent a year ago. Marijuana makes up about 85 percent of all cases, followed by alcohol. The agency is also seeing clients as young as 12.

State surveys show 8 percent of middle and high school students report using prescription pain pills in their lifetimes without a doctor's order and 3.2 percent in the month prior to being surveyed.

"We are seeing some of the kids actually crushing up the pills and snorting them through a straw in their nose," said Susan Sandmann, an adolescent supervisor for Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare.

School officials and a pastor at Jeremiah's memorial took advantage of a captive young audience to not only remember a teen who made others smile and gave hugs daily to school administrators, but also to talk about staying on the right path.

Kevin Tucker, principal at Creekside Middle School, which put together and helped pay for Jeremiah's service, told parents to start snooping, including checking under mattresses. He also told the children they should not be afraid to be "snitches" and that if somebody had stepped up, Jeremiah would "still be here."

"Friends don't let friends get hurt," he told them.

A cousin of Jeremiah said in a phone interview from New York that the teen had been struggling since one of his fathers, Michael Cross, died in January. He was raised and lived since birth with two fathers, who were in a long-term relationship. Parents and school officials said Jeremiah was loving and respectful, but also rambunctious and struggled the last school year with his grades.

Police found Jeremiah was giving out pills in the neighborhood, reports state. His surviving father, Michael Reese, 52, who was home when Jeremiah died, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of child neglect. The night of Jeremiah's death, police found the house in disarray and numerous prescription bottles. Reese, who has a medical condition, received 23 prescriptions for pain medication since March.

Reese was released from jail and was at the memorial service, but did not speak publicly.

Kim Grass, of Port Orange, comforted her 14-year-old son, Blake, at the memorial when he tried talking to the crowd about his best friend, but he broke down. The two grew up together in the neighborhood fishing, skateboarding and riding bikes.

"It just hits too close to home. It could have been any one of our children," Grass said.

Gabby Devischeybergen, 12, of Port Orange, hugged Jeremiah on the school bus two days before he died. She was moving and transferring to a new school.

"That's the one thing I'm going to miss about him -- his smile and hugs," she said. "If kids were doing (drugs), they are not going to try it anymore."

Cheryl and Stephen Wilhelm of Port Orange are still in shock after seeing their son, Max, 14, last weekend in a hospital intensive care unit after he ingested OxyContin pills with Jeremiah the night he died. The two have known each other since elementary school. He's doing better physically, but dealing with seeing his friend die.

"I almost lost my baby and I'm heartbroken over Jeremiah," she added.

Stephen Wilhelm said he never thought about warning his son about prescription pills.

His concern has "always been about weed."

Daytona Beach Police Officer Michael Robinson, who has taught drug prevention in schools, said parents need to keep a running count of their pills and lock them up.

"A lot of times we just think and assume 'my kid won't do this,' " Robinson said.

Unfortunately, it usually takes a bad event, he said, for parents to realize it can happen.