5-month-old overdoses on heroin; Parents charged with abuse

SPRINGFIELD, Va. - A Fairfax County couple faces felony child abuse and neglect charges after their baby nearly died from eating heroin.

Police don't know how the 5-month-old got the heroin because they are not sure whether he was even able to crawl.

But police tell The Washington Post they think the baby picked up a packet of the drug and put it in his mouth while his parents were shooting up with friends last July. The friends were considered "long-term guests" who took care of the baby. Records indicate the parents used heroin to pay the friends for babysitting.

The mother, 36-year-old Marilyn Fischl, and father Rafael Preston, 36, took their baby to the emergency room at Inova Fairfax Hospital on July 14. The suspicious staff contacted Child Protective Services, and the baby was taken away.

But Fischl and Preston were not arrested until last Thursday following a search of their Springfield home in the Newington Forest neighborhood. A Fairfax County Police spokesman said there was no rush because the baby boy and Fischl's other children had already been removed.

Both mother and father have a history of arrests and convictions for robbery, prostitution, drug and firearms violations. The baby and Fischl's other children are in protective custody.

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