High Point woman charged after toddler tests positive for fentanyl

A High Point toddler's fentanyl-positive test sent investigators to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist High Point Medical Center and left a 50-year-old aunt facing a felony child neglect charge, a reminder that drug exposure inside a home can turn into a child-safety emergency within hours.

High Point police said they responded April 18 after a nurse reported the child had been brought in by an aunt and the child's urine tested positive for fentanyl. Court documents identify the aunt as Kindise Peterson, 50, who was charged with felony child neglect causing serious bodily injury. Peterson was arrested April 24, initially held without bond, and later had bond set at $20,000 secured. She is scheduled to appear in Guilford County court on May 22.

The case has drawn attention beyond one family because fentanyl exposure involving children can be life-threatening even when no overdose death occurs. High Point police said they are aware of only two local cases involving children and fentanyl, but advocates warn the problem is broader. Andrea Thomas, founder and executive director of Facing Fentanyl, said the group works in all 50 states on prevention and awareness, pointing to accidental child exposures as a growing concern nationwide.

North Carolina has also moved to stiffen penalties. Session Law 2025-70 created G.S. 14-318.7, which makes exposing a child under 16 to a controlled substance a Class H felony. If a child ingests the drug, the offense rises to a Class E felony, and the penalties increase again if the child is seriously injured or dies. The law took effect Dec. 1, 2025, giving prosecutors another tool in cases where drug use or storage puts children at risk.

The public-health stakes are stark. State child death data showed fentanyl contributed to the deaths of 10 North Carolina children age 5 or younger in 2022, up from one such death seven years earlier. The state Office of Child Fatality Prevention says it supports local child fatality prevention teams with resources, training and data aimed at reducing preventable deaths among children and teens, underscoring how a single High Point case fits into a wider effort to keep dangerous drugs away from children.