A 16-year-old girl had turned blue and was not breathing after taking a dose of heroin supplied by her father, according to testimony Friday in a Lancaster district court.
An emergency medical technician (EMT) testified that the girl required four doses of Narcan to regain consciousness. Without the opioid antidote, the EMT testified, the girl would have died.
Kerry J. Long, 35, is charged with supplying the heroin, which tested positive for fentanyl, that caused the girl’s overdose.
Following testimony, District Judge Adam Witkonis ordered Long be tried in Lancaster County Court on felony counts of aggravated assault, drug-dealing and endangering a child. Long also is charged with misdemeanor corruption of minors.
Long, of Ephrata, is at Lancaster County Prison on $1 million bail.
At the preliminary hearing Friday, Assistant District Attorney Karen Mansfield presented testimony from the EMT and Lancaster city police Detective Heather Halstead.
Detective Halstead testified that the girl said her father provided the heroin. Field testing of the substance tested positive for levels of fentanyl, Halstead testified.
Fentanyl, a pain-reliever, is 40 to 50 times stronger than heroin being sold on the street, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Long admitted to supplying his daughter with the drugs.
Lancaster city police Officer Erik Stroup administered an initial dose of Narcan, which was ineffective, before the EMT administered three more doses via an IV.
Another relative at the home called 911.
Detective Halstead filed charges.
Long is presumed innocent.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright