Gastonia couple accused of heroin overdose with children inside home

GASTONIA, N.C. — A Gastonia couple is accused of overdosing on heroin with two young boys inside the home.

Channel 9 reporter Ken Lemon talked to the landlord who said the boys ran to her pleading for help.

The landlord described a heartbreaking scene at the home.

“It was just a terrible situation to be in," the landlord who did not want to be identified said.

She talked to the man now in jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She said he and the kids' mother planned to take just a minute shooting up heroin in bathroom.

The last thing he remembers is reaching for the bathroom door. The door was locked.

The couple's 8- and 9-year-old boys waited for their parents to get out, then banged on the door.

One used a butter knife to pry it open.

The boys found their parents passed out and needles in the sink.

One of the brothers ran to the landlord’s home for help.

She came over and found Michael Boswell unconscious with no pulse. Cynthia Carrigan had a pulse, but she was not conscious.

The landlord said she started CPR and called 911.

“Don't let my mommy die, don't let my mommy die,” she said the boys yelled to her.

Paramedics revived both parents. Carrigan went to the hospital.

"It's terrible that kids are exposed to that," neighbor Tracy Vaughn said.

Police said the lack of regard for the children is a criminal act.

"A dose of heroin that might not injure an adult could kill a child," Gastonia police Capt. Michael Lari said.  The parents face charges for endangering their children.

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