Nationwide — Michael Reed, a 28-year-old man from Mansfield, Ohio, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to causing serious injury to his 2-year-old daughter, Nevaeh, who died from a fentanyl overdose in February 2024.
According to police, officers were called to an apartment on Towne Crossing Boulevard around 10 p.m. on February 18 after Reed reported that his daughter was unresponsive. Paramedics performed CPR and rushed Nevaeh to a nearby hospital. She was declared brain-dead 10 days later and died soon after Fox 4 News reported.
Investigators said Reed admitted that he waited nearly two hours before calling 911. During that time, he searched online for ways to make a child vomit and tried to do it himself. He also attempted to order Naloxone through DoorDash, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses.
Reed’s sister and roommate, Jamie Popovic, told police she begged him to call for help, but he refused because he feared losing custody of his children. She said she saw blue and white pills scattered around the apartment. Popovic was later charged with abandoning and endangering a child and received 60 months of probation.
Another adult in the home, Anthony McDonald, told investigators that Nevaeh had walked into his room around 8 p.m. “covered in powder.” He said he later helped Popovic try to wake Reed when the child became unresponsive. When emergency responders arrived, Reed reportedly failed to mention that the child may have overdosed.
Inside the apartment, police found pills, marijuana, a syringe, and what appeared to be a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl. They also found a loaded gun in a cabinet within reach of the child. Tests later confirmed the pill contained fentanyl.
During sentencing in Tarrant County court, Nevaeh’s mother, Stephanie Waller, spoke directly to Reed. “I just hope that every day he wakes up and sees her face and remembers her,” she said, adding that she finally feels some peace knowing justice has been served.