Tulsa mother arrested after 3-year-old daughter dies from fentanyl and cocaine toxicity

Tulsa Police arrested a woman charged with child neglect in the death of her three-year-old daughter, who died from a cocaine and fentanyl overdose.

Police had been looking for Khearston Brown for weeks and found her Tuesday afternoon.

Investigators say Brown has had six children since 2011 and five of the six tested positive for drugs.

May 2024:

Tulsa Police say they were called to Brown's home after Brown found her three-year-old daughter not breathing. The child was pronounced deceased.

"We collected a bunch of evidence, a bunch of items that were found in the bedroom where the child was sleeping, when the child was found deceased. Those items were tested at our forensic lab and most of those items tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl," said Lieutenant Jeanne Pierce with the Tulsa Police Child Crisis Unit.

Medical Examiner's Report:

The medical examiner's final report was released in January 2025 and listed the child's manner of death as accident and cause of death as fentanyl and cocaine toxicity. Child neglect charges were then filed against Brown in April.

Brown's Previous Pregnancies:

Investigators say Brown had six children from 2011 to 2023 and five tested positive for drugs. They say Brown had twins in 2023 and both had cocaine and fentanyl in their system and DHS took them away.

Lieutenant Pierce says, unfortunately, they are seeing more children born addicted to drugs.

"We are talking hours old, weeks old and they are having withdrawal symptoms because their parents did drugs while they were pregnant. It's really sad and disheartening to hear about," said Pierce.

Investigators Pursuing Child Neglect Charges:

Pierce says in the last two years, they've started pursuing child neglect charges for people who use drugs while pregnant.

She says they hope it sends a message that there will be consequences.

"For first offense, they might get drug court, they might get treatment and that might help, and that might prevent other children from being exposed to drugs. But, when there's no consequences for doing drugs while pregnant, they are going to continue to do it and this individual is an example of that," said Pierce.

Child Neglect charges carry a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted.