is an ambulance right now. 242. >> Please hurry. >> 24/19. What's going on? >> He's a 9-year-old is in the backyard and he's not responding to anything. He looks like she's been unresponsive for a long time. Please, please. >> Whose child is it? >> It was September 2nd, 2021. Police in Carlsbad got a call about a child who wasn't breathing. Officers rushed to a house on West Pier Street. Family members were panicking. They told police the boy was in the backyard. Behind the house was a small shed. The door was closed. When officers opened it, they saw 12-year-old Brent Sullivan lying on the floor. He wasn't moving. >> Oh. Oh, it's right here. The backyard backyard. I'm just going to go around. >> Where's the big Where's the kid at? Stay here. >> How old is he? >> 48 cars. I have a 12-year-old kid not breathing, not conscious. CPR started. >> Come on, BUDDY. COME ON, BUDDY. >> Come on, buddy. >> What do you have? >> 18 unconscious juvenile male. >> Come on, baby. >> HOW OLD? HOW OLD? >> HOW OLD? >> 12. >> 12. >> HEY, MARQUEZ, MAKE SURE NOBODY LEAVES THIS HOUSE. >> How long is When was the last time y'all saw him? >> I just went and got home from work today. >> Who's that kid in the back? How do you know him? >> He's the grandson. And >> who lives here? >> Um, Kelly. >> Kelly. >> My friend Kelly. >> What about this gentleman? [crying] >> Um, I know he's a friend. Okay. >> I don't know. I'm from Albuquerque. I'm just visiting. >> Okay. Who else is in the house? >> Uh just the mom. Uh >> is this a different house or is it connected? >> Oh no. I was playing like the mom, Kelly, and Mike. And he just rolled up. >> David, >> is his chest raising? >> Yes, ma'am. >> I can feel it. Come on, Brent. Come on, baby. Come on. >> Come on, buddy. >> Come on, Brent. >> Come on, Brent. >> They're back here. Right here. >> Hey, he's in the backyard in the gate. Come on, buddy. Come on, buddy. Hey, come on, buddy. Come on, BUDDY. COME ON. TALK TO ME. COME ON, BUDDY. Come back. Come back. >> Come on, Branch. >> BACK HERE. BACK HERE. >> COME ON, BUDDY. Come on. Come on. >> Come on, Branch. Come on, Brent. >> 12-year-old unconscious stop breathing. They said they gave him Narcan. >> Okay. >> Don't know how long he's been down. >> Let's go. >> Okay. Just grab everything we just dumped >> though. Go, John. You got this. >> Here. You want me to do? >> Despite the efforts of first responders and hospital staff, 12-year-old Brent Sullivan did not survive. Doctors later confirmed he passed away from a fentinyl overdose. A child just 12 years old. His life ended because of a that never should have been within his reach. >> The 12-year-old, >> the mother's right back there. >> Where's she at? >> She's in the back. >> She's in the back. >> What happened? What do you know? >> He's been stealing. >> He's been doing this for a while. >> Stealing drugs from who? >> From his mom. From >> Come on. What do you know that he took or what do you think he took? >> Ma'am, this is all important information. >> He took >> Did you find around him? Do you you think he took it? >> No, he took it. He had taken yesterday and we we uh >> Come on, boys. Come on, boys. Come on, boys. >> Who's the other gentleman that was here? >> I don't know. I just pulled up. >> You just pulled up, bro. Well, you were here. Hear me out. You were here before I was. Before I got here, listen to me. Before I got here, somebody else said that they saw a male subject leave that backyard with a back a black backpack. >> No, nobody else was hearing. >> I'm just telling you what I'm what I'm hearing. >> I know, but nobody else was here. >> What I'm telling you is when I came down like this, I stopped. I see you pull up right there and turn around. >> Yeah. >> And I was going to leave and I was like, I don't know what the hell's going on. >> Okay. >> So, I got down and then that's when you >> Okay. As officers worked the scene, they received new information. Witnesses reported seeing a suspicious man leaving the backyard just before police arrived. He was walking away from the house. Officers quickly began searching the area. A short time later, they located him nearby. When questioned, the man gave a false name, but investigators soon learned he wasn't who he claimed to be. >> I say he wasn't here. My name was Kelly. I brought him here because I was searching his stuff, so I knew that he got I knew he had found stuff, right? I I ch he hasn't been going to school. I chased him down the street trying to get him to school yesterday and so he was staying here while I searched through his stuff trying to make sure he didn't have anything. And then I just got a text that he wasn't here and so I ran here and just got home and she said she's been looking for him. >> Yeah. >> That's what she said. >> Hey bud, how you doing? Let me talk to you for you over here, man. Yes, sir. No idea. What's your name? >> Eric. >> Where are you coming from, Eric? >> Right down here on Wester Way. >> What's your last name? >> Lopez. >> Eric Lopez. >> 21 Crosby. >> Did he just say that the kid was passed out when he left? >> Said that uh he left because he he had heard that somebody passed out or passed away. So that that's why he left. Okay. Okay. It's a 12-year-old kid, bro. They said they use they said they use Narcan. So that that unknown. So that tells me that they know he's something about this kid's using. >> Yeah. The mom just told just told detective that he's been using and not too long ago. He's been using today. That's mom. >> Yeah. Grandma said that. >> Hey, I didn't mean to yell at you. They weren't able to revive the kid. >> Do what? >> They weren't able to revive the kid. >> I don't believe so. I'm not 100% certain on it. >> Horrible, man. >> Yeah. pills from his mom yesterday and he stashed them somewhere and um we looked and looked and tried to find them and he promised that he wouldn't that he didn't have them but he did. >> Mhm. >> We searched him. It's my fault cuz I was going to I had heard >> How long's he been using? [crying] >> He's OD. This is the fourth time he's ODed. >> Fourth time he's OD on >> here. No, not here. I mean, his house, too. >> How many times the OD here? >> Once. >> Once today. >> This is twice here. >> Twice here. >> Kelly, there's a problem here. >> I quit doing >> I know. I know. But you're still allowing to come into this house. And you got babies. >> Mom, I'm going to go. >> Can you explain to me what happened? >> I don't know. I don't know. Yesterday morning, yesterday morning I took my girls to school and when I came back I could smell that I could smell that he had been smoking. I I tried to search him and he took off running from me and I chased him and when I when I finally I had to keep chasing because he kept getting out and when I finally found him I brought him here for my mom to watch so that I could search everything and find us cuz he keeps doing this. Thank you. >> So today, so today you brought him over here that way you could >> yesterday morning >> and he's been over here since yesterday. >> Mhm. >> Okay. And then I stay up like checking like the shed and everything trying to find all cuz it's every like he's got places everywhere with foils and stuff everywhere. And I was just trying to find all of it and she text me and said she he wasn't here. >> And so I looked all over and he wasn't there. And when I got here, I heard him scream. >> Heard him scream? >> I heard Mike scream. >> Okay. >> So, grandma, what is grandma's name? >> Kelly. >> Kelly. >> As officers continued the investigation, three people were taken into custody. John Ral was arrested first. Police say he gave them a fake name when they stopped him near the house. He later admitted he lied because he had an outstanding warrant. Officers also found a handgun inside his backpack and records showed he had prior felony convictions. Alexis Smith, Brent's mother, was arrested on an active warrant during the investigation. As the case unfolded, she was later charged in connection with her son's Kelly Smith, Brent's grandmother, was also arrested. Prosecutors said she played a role in the neglect that led to the 12-year-old's fatal overdose. that mattered to Lexi from 2019 through 2021. So much so that the person the precious life she brought into this world she let slip away. The lack of concern she had after knowing Brent was using her drugs is truly disheartening. >> In the aftermath of Brent Sullivan's prosecutors charged both his mother and his grandmother with child in connection with his overdose. On November 2nd, 2023, jury found Alexis Murray Smith guilty of intentional child resulting in death and related abuse charges related to her son's fatal overdose. She was sentenced to 14 years in prison with time credited for what she had already served plus two years of parole after release. Brent's grandmother, Kelly Smith, was also tried and convicted on similar child charges. In October 2024, she was sentenced to 18 years in prison for her role in the neglect that led to Brent's >> opportunity to make choices in our lives. Sometimes we make choices that come with horrible, horrible consequences. And that's the case in this situation because Brent's life cannot be returned here. >> Their sentences reflect the court's finding that both adults failed to protect Brent from the deadly that took his life.