Dad charged after toddler ingests PCP, Xanax

GERMANTOWN, MD (KTRK) -- A father in the Washington DC area has been charged with child neglect after police say PCP and Xanax were found in his 20-month-old daughter's system.

Jayson Hall, 38, of Germantown, has also been charged with reckless endangerment. Police say he allegedly left a bottle of pills on a table in the home. As of Saturday afternoon, the toddler was still in the hospital.

"I would never hurt one of my kids, she ate my pills," said Hall, as he defended himself outside the home Saturday. "I didn't put the top all the way on the bottle, so when she woke up she thought it was candy."

Officers say they were contacted by officials at Adventist Healthcare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville at around 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19. According to police, hospital representatives said the 20-month-old girl was brought in unresponsive and that a blood test showed the presence of the drugs.

Police say the girl's mother said she was called at work by her 13-year-old son about the incident. The mother told police that when she went home to check on the girl she was unresponsive and Hall, the girl's father, was at home. The girl's mother called 911 for help as neighbor reportedly tried to aid the child with CPR.

"We had to do CPR. The neighbor was a doctor and he came rushing to her aid," said one neighbor, who did not want to release her name.

According to police, the girl's mother said that when she headed out for work on Wednesday she saw a bottle of pills on a table in the home and asked Hall to move them.

Hall tells WJLA-TV that he's prescribed Xanax, and fell asleep. As far as the PCP is concerned, he claims his cousin brought it to the house.

"I'm hurt to my soul because I have eight kids. I never hurt any of my kids, OK, ever," Hall said.

"We're still holding the baby in prayer, and we just pray for the whole family and the neighborhood that we just get through this and move on," said one neighbor, who did not want to release her name.

Montgomery County Police are still investigating exactly how the drugs ended up in the toddler's system.

Hall has been released on $10,000 bond.