Police investigating accidental poisoning that killed 4 kids
DALLAS — A criminal investigation is underway into an apparent accidental poisoning involving a professional-grade pesticide that left four children dead and an Amarillo woman in critical condition, police said Tuesday.
Authorities are looking into why the family had the pesticide pellets, called Weevil-cide, which is only supposed to be sold to people with professional licenses or certification. The product’s manual, available online, outlines stringent guidelines for using the product including having two trained individuals apply it. Figures from the American Association of Poison Control Centers show that deaths from the pesticide are rare.
The father of the children who died told first responders through a Spanish language interpreter that he had spread the pellets under the family’s mobile home after obtaining the product from a friend, Amarillo Fire Capt. Larry Davis said. Davis said the product is not available for sale to the general public. The product’s manual says it’s intended for use in pest control in commercial transport or storage of commodities and animal feed.
Davis said the father does not have professional certification as far as he knows. He did not know whether the friend who gave him the product had a certification.