HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – 38-year-old Lacey Jo Gardner is behind bars after police allege she suffered a drug overdose while at home with her children.

A police affidavit states that officers were sent to a home in the 3800 block of Van Meter Court for a medical emergency call. The caller told police her cousin had called her, claiming that his mother, Gardner, was lying on the ground and not breathing. On arriving at the scene, first responders told police that Gardner was waking up and talking. Authorities say Gardner admitted to taking two Percocet pills given to her by a friend. The affidavit also states that while helping Gardner find her phone inside the house, officers discovered burnt aluminum foil and a pink pill, which was later identified as Methylphenidate Hydochloride, a Schedule II narcotic. A powder found in another piece of aluminum foil hidden in a cigarette carton also tested positive for heroin.

Police say that in speaking with the caller, she told officers that Gardner’s son called her while she was at work. After asking if Gardner was still breathing, her cousin informed her that Gardner wasn’t, and according to the affidavit, was turning “bluish-purple.” The caller then told police that she got to the home as fast as she could and took the children out of the home while first responders arrived. Another cousin who was on the scene told officers that Gardner had overdosed with children present in the home in the past.

The affidavit states with both the permission of Gardner and the Department of Child Servies, the children were cleared to leave with their cousins. While speaking with police at the hospital, Gardner told officers that she had run out of an Oxycodone prescription and had a friend provide her with the Percocet pills and the pink pill, which she told police she didn’t know the contents of.

After being cleared from the hospital, Gardner was booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail on the following charges:

  • Neglect of a dependent (3 counts)
  • Possession of a narcotic
  • Possession of a Schedule II narcotic
  • Possession of paraphernalia