Parents arrested after LA Ainger Middle School student overdoses on fentanyl at school

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. —

A mother and father were arrested and accused of child neglect after their daughter overdosed on fentanyl at a middle school in Charlotte County on Tuesday.

According to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office arrest report, deputies responded to a call of an unresponsive student at L.A. Ainger Middle School at around 9:19 a.m.

Upon arrival, deputies located the student, who was on the floor receiving CPR from the school nurse. Deputies administered a dose of Narcan to the student, which produced a positive response. The student was then transported to the hospital for further evaluation by emergency medical services.

Deputies then contacted the student's mother, Courtney Delaney, 34, to inform her of what happened. Delaney told them she had gotten into an argument with the student's father, Joshua Sanders, 40, over some missing fentanyl and then kicked him out of the bedroom.

Deputies discovered that the student had brought the fentanyl, which was in an essential oils bottle labeled "FENT," to school, taken it to the bathroom and ingested it, the affidavit said.

The student told a member of the Department of Children & Families that she had seen her father using narcotics in the past, and had become curious about it. The student said she consumed the fentanyl at school, started to feel funny, and that all she remembered after that was waking up in the ambulance.

Deputies conducted an investigation of the bathroom after fentanyl was confirmed to be present in the student's system, and detected traces of fentanyl on a toilet paper holder in the bathroom, and found the essential oil bottle filled with fentanyl in the student's backpack.

Delaney informed deputies that Sanders had been living with her and her kids since April of 2025. She said on numerous occasions that she located what she believed to be narcotics in the home and would dispose of them without telling Sanders.

Delaney said she knew Sanders was a narcotics user and that his choice of drug was fentanyl. Deputies found that Delaney had made no effort to remove Sanders from the residence, despite narcotics being present in the presence of her children.

Delaney said that two weeks prior to the incident, she had tried to get Sanders removed from the home, and on March 7, he had signed an agreement stating he would no longer be on the lease. However, Delaney continued to let Sanders stay in the residence, the affidavit said.

On the morning of March 9, Delaney and Sanders got into an argument over the essential oils bottle, which ended in Delaney kicking Sanders out. Delaney told deputies she had not seen Sanders since.

The student told deputies she found the bottle on the bathroom counter and brought it to school with her.

Deputies spoke with Sanders, who told them he had left the bottle in the bathroom near the sink and wanted to tell his daughter he was sorry.

Delaney and Sanders were arrested. Both face charges of one count of child neglect with great bodily harm and two counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.

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