[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 05/12/21]
MOUNT DORA, Florida — A woman who overdosed in the same room as a newborn baby and later chased her brother with a knife last month has been charged with child neglect in relation to the overdose.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Mount Dora Police responded to an apartment at 1400 Eudora Road on a medical complaint. Upon arrival, an officer found Jenette Peralta, 25, having trouble breathing, “and immediately knew [she] was suffering from a drug overdose,” the affidavit states.
MDPD found a small pink plastic bag on a nearby nightstand and the residue field tested positive for cocaine. A newborn baby was found sleeping in a car seat about three feet from the baggie of cocaine residue, according to the affidavit. Peralta’s relationship to the infant is unclear.
Peralta became “combative” with Lake EMS and MDPD and began flailing her arms, screaming, “Bro, let me go,” and went into a room with four other children. Peralta was taken into custody and transported to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares for treatment.
Peralta left the hospital on foot without being officially released and called her mother to pick her up at a local gas station. She told her mother and later Eustis Police she took an unknown pill and woke up at AdventHealth Waterman.
They went to a home in Eustis and Peralta wanted to hold her one-month-old baby. Due to redaction in both affidavits, it is unclear if her baby was the baby in the room when she overdosed in Mount Dora. Peralta’s mother refused to let her hold the baby and when her mother refused, Peralta is alleged to have hit her and pulled her hair. Peralta’s brother intervened and they got into a physical fight. Peralta had a golf-ball size knot on her cheek and her brother had several scratches. Peralta’s brother said she chased him with a knife, and he ran outside to call 9-1-1.
Peralta was determined to be the primary aggressor and she was taken into custody. EPD transported her to the Lake County Jail, and she was refused entry until she was medically cleared. She was cleared by AdventHealth Waterman and booked into LCJ, where she was released on her own recognizance the next day.
Peralta was picked up on the child neglect warrant Friday and released the same day on $2,000 bond.
_______________________________
Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
