Parents Placed an Uber Order for Help While 2-Year-Old Was Dying of Heroin Overdose

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An Illinois couple is facing murder charges in the death of their 2-year-old daughter, but the toddler suffered a drug overdose. Most parents in this situation would have immediately called police, but 49-year-old Edward Weiher and his fiancée, 28-year-old Alexa Balen, waited nearly four hours before alerting the authorities of their daughter’s condition. When authorities arrived, they walked in on Weiher performing chest compressions on the little girl. He told detectives that he believed the carbon monoxide levels in the home caused the child’s condition. 

Police arrived at the couple’s home at 11:30 p.m. on November 6, 2024, WGN-TV reported. They were responding to calls about an unresponsive child and a possible carbon monoxide leak. Weiher, the homeowner, was trying to revive Trinity Balen-Weiher on an ottoman in the living room. The child’s mother and her 6-year-old daughter were also in the home.

In the residence, police noted that garbage, including food, urine and feces, covered the floor. They also found white substances that they believed to be cocaine and heroin on the tables and countertops. Police also noticed several pieces of burnt foil they believed to be associated with heroin use. In addition, heroin was on the mattress where the entire family slept each night, according to WGN-TV.

Weiher told police his carbon monoxide meter registered at 6,000 parts per million. This amount is enough to make a person unconscious within 20 minutes, the news outlet reported. Balen initially said the same, but later, she admitted that both she and Weiher regularly use heroin.

Balen also told authorities that when they first observed Trinity’s symptoms, they tried to use Narcan, a drug used to immediately stop an overdose. Sadly, they failed to administer the correct dosage, The Independent noted. When it didn’t work, Weiher suggested they order a second dose from Uber instead of calling the police. But when the second dose also failed and Trinity stopped breathing, they finally contacted authorities. Police believe three hours and 41 minutes had passed since Trinity first started exhibiting symptoms of an overdose.

Trinity was taken to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. A pathologist concluded that Trinity would have survived if her parents had called the police when she first showed symptoms, WGN-TV reported. Balen’s 6-year-old daughter was removed from her parents’ care after she tested positive for fentanyl and cocaine. In the time the couple waited to call police, Balen searched “how to stop an od” and “how to stop an od without naloxone.”

When authorities initially arrested the couple, they charged them with “child endangerment resulting in death, child endangerment, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.” On May 22, those charges were upgraded to first-degree murder, per WGN-TV. The couple were granted a pre-trial release. Their next court date is scheduled for June 27.