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Cocoa couple arrested after baby dies of fentanyl, cocaine overdose

A couple was arrested Thursday in connection with the death of an 8-month-old infant, Brevard County sheriff deputies said.
David Chappele Jr., 29, and Jessica Strickland, 27, of unincorporated Cocoa, were arrested after the baby’s death on Sept. 6, 2017, was determined to have been caused by an overdose of fentanyl and cocaine, deputies said.
Investigators said Strickland and Chappele placed a mattress on the living room floor of a home on Walnut Street so they could sleep with the baby. The baby was placed in the middle of the mattress and Strickland woke up to find the child unresponsive, deputies said.
According to a news release, Chappele was wearing multiple fentanyl patches, which had been cut in half, allowing residue to get on the infant. The release also said that the baby ingested cocaine because Strickland was using the drug while caring for the infant.
The baby was taken to the hospital and later died.
Marcee Carpenter, Strickland's cousin, said she tried to intervene weeks before the child's death.
"I knew the baby was in a dire situation," Carpenter said. "When I saw that the baby was unattended on the terrazzo floor and both parents were passed out, I reached out to DCF, because I really believed that the child needed to be taken out immediately."
Carpenter described the baby as small and frail.
"I'm so over the accountability or the lack of accountability of authorities and officials," she said. "It makes you want to give up. The world is going in that direction."
Strickland and Chappele were charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child.
“Chappele’s charges are related to allowing the infant to be in direct proximity of a dangerous narcotic that caused the infant’s death. Strickland is being charged for failing to protect the infant even though she knew the possible danger to the child from the drugs that were being used by both parents,” a news release said.
"This is something serious," Carpenter said. "I just don't think that you know people who are chemically or not financially or psychologically sound should have children because the children have to pay."
Carpenter said that a maintenance man heard the couple arguing about who would change the baby's diaper, and that he stepped in and did it himself. 
Strickland remains in the Brevard County Jail. Chappele was released after paying bail.