Police probe death of Campbell boy, 10

By Jeanne Starmack

CAMPBELL — Police are investigating the death of a 10-year-old boy who died at the home of relatives in the city last month.

Police were called to the home on Blackburn Street shortly after noon June 7 after Terrence Tarver was found unresponsive on the living-room floor.

His mother, Latasha Dixon, called police to tell them he wasn’t moving, a police report says. Dixon also told them the boy had complained of not feeling well the night before.

Dixon told them the boy was taking medication for allergies. Three medications were found on the coffee table, the report says. But a drug found in the boy’s system during a toxicology test didn’t match any prescriptions found in the house, said Detective Sgt. Dave Taybus.

Taybus said the Mahoning County Coroner’s office gave Campbell police the results of the test June 23.

Now police are trying to find out where the boy could have gotten the drug, a muscle relaxant called Soma, Taybus said.

He said they have interviewed Dixon and other family members who live at the house.

Reached earlier this week, Dixon said the Blackburn house belongs to her brother. Police said her grandfather also lives there.

Dixon said she is no longer staying at the house. She declined to talk about her son.

Campbell police say they are interviewing the boy’s friends and their families to determine how he got the drug.

Soma is an older drug that doctors don’t prescribe much anymore, said Dr. Joseph Ohr, a pathologist with the Mahoning County Coroner’s office. He said that the cause of death for Terrence isn’t final, and he is double-checking to make sure the toxicology report was correct.

“There were medications in his system that weren’t found in the house. We think, ‘Hey, is this a lab error?’” he said. “I have to make sure.”

He said it could be two more months before the coroner’s office issues an official ruling on the cause of death.