(PCSD file photos)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Lincoln County couple from Wellston, who were accused of overdosing on an intoxicant in Stillwater while caring for an infant, have been ordered held in the Payne County Jail on $10,000 bail each pending a Dec. 4 court appearance on child neglect and public intoxication charges.
Stillwater Police Officer Damian Neiswanger explained to Ashley Nicole McCool, 38, “she was probably very close to dying tonight and that she was given two doses of Narcan to bring her back. Ashley told me a few times that she would not have taken the pill if she knew it was Fentanyl,” according to his affidavit.
Her husband, Edward Charles Reupert, 41, was standing behind the couple’s car and holding an infant while Stillwater firefighters administered two doses to his wife in her nasal cavity, the affidavit said.
Stillwater police had been sent to a convenience store parking lot on N. Main Street at 8:11 pm on Nov. 1 regarding “a female who was unresponsive and not breathing,” the affidavit said.
“Edward seemed to be under the influence and I asked him if he had been drinking, and he told me that he had. I also noticed that while speaking with Edward, his eyes were mainly shut the whole time. I also noticed that Edward was sweating profusely, but the outside temperature was around 40 degrees.
“Even with my flashlight not in his eyes, his pupils were pinpoint. This is a common indicator of someone who is under the influence of an opiate. Officers located a blue pill that was stamped M30.
“I then asked Edward what Ashley took, and he said that he did not know and that she just said she was tired. I told Edward that I believed he was high on a narcotic. I asked Edward if he had taken anything today, and he said that he took a pain pill. I asked him what kind, and he said it was a little blue ‘Roxy.’
“I asked Edward if it was Fentanyl, and he said that he did not know. I told him that I knew what ‘Roxies’ are, and he said that he did too. A Stillwater firefighter spoke with me and told me that Ashley was saying that she did not take anything. He also stated that if the Narcan brought her back, we knew she took something.
“I observed the pill (found by police) and found it to be consistent with other pills that I have seen like it to be pressed Fentanyl. I was then advised that Ashley was being transported to Stillwater Medical Center,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
When she was close to being discharged, the officer alleged, “I then went to the Stillwater Medical Center and spoke with Ashley. I asked Ashley if she remembered taking a pill, and she told me that she was told it was a Valium. I asked her who told her that, and she said it was some girl,” that she did not know at an apartment complex.
“I asked Ashley to tell me when she took the pill, and she said that Edward went inside and then came back outside. She told me that she did not know what Edward was doing. I asked her if she took the pill when they left, and she said that she had to have taken it when they left.
“She said that her heart started racing, and she started to not feel good. Ashley told me at this point when she got to (the convenience store), she did not remember anything until she woke up in the ambulance. I asked Ashley if Edward had a drug problem, and she said that she did not know if he did.”
When the officer was leaving the Stillwater City Jail where the couple were initially held, the state Department of Human Services was on scene and taking custody of the infant, the affidavit said.
