Authorities in the US state of Indiana has released shocking pictures of a mother found overdosed behind the wheel and her 10-month-old son crying in the back seat to raise awareness about the growing heroin epidemic.
Authorities in the city of Hope released pictures of Erika Hurt, 25, unresponsive behind the wheel of her car on Saturday afternoon in the Dollar Store General parking lot.
Police say when they found Hurt, she had a syringe in her hand, and her 10-month-old son was crying in the back seat.
Town Marshal Matthew Tallent says officers revived Hurt and she was taken to the hospital. She was later arrested on charges of child neglect and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Child welfare officials were called to the scene and the baby was turned over to Hurt's mother, Fox59.com reported.
The chilling scene is reminiscent of a horrific image showing two parents passed out at the wheel of their car in East Liverpool, Ohio after taking heroin.
A young boy sits in the backseat, seemingly unmoved by his parents' state.
Tallant says the department made the decision to release the photos of Hurt passed out behind the wheel to make people aware that the heroin epidemic is not just a big city problem-it is leaking into small towns like Hope.
"My intention with these photos is not to shame the mother, although I realise it may appear embarrassing. I honestly think this picture should be used as an educational tool because I want people to see what this drug is doing," Tallant said.
Hurt's mother feels no one should have ever seen this picture and police should have kept it as evidence.
"This was a mistake. I do not condone it. Trust me there is nobody that was more angry than me and once she was back up on her feet, before she even went to the hospital she knew how I angry I was," explains Jami Smith, Hurt's mother.
Smith shared that her daughter had been clean for two years and had just gotten out of rehab earlier this month.
This is the second overdose Hope authorities have responded to this year. However, many cities across the state have been tirelessly battling the problem for months.
In just one weekend, authorities responded to over two dozen overdose calls in Bartholomew County and Delaware County.
The heroin epidemic is so problematic in Morgan County that the coroner has run out of money for autopsies.
Earlier this month, Preet Bharara, a top US prosecutor warned that opioid abuse in America has reached epidemic proportions with some 30,000 people dying a year from drug overdoses.
In an opinion piece in New York Daily News, Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, wrote that nearly 80 Americans die from opioid overdoses every day: almost 550 a week, 2,400 a month, 30,000 a year. Thirty thousand lives cut short; 30,000 families devastated; 30,000 communities scarred, every year.
