Ariz. child paid to take drug test for grandpa, say police

MESA, Ariz. – A Mesa mom is facing a felony charge of child abuse after her 11-year-old son got sick while trying to help his grandfather pass a drug test, according to court documents. Police arrested Kiralee Arlene Ruck, 29, on Wednesday, one day after officers were called to her son’s school because he was showing symptoms of a drug overdose. The grandfather, John Davis, was arrested on Wednesday.

“The school staff reported the victim told them his grandfather paid him $40 dollars to take a half of a pink pill and to later urinate in a cup for him so he would pass a drug test,” reads the probable cause for arrest statement included in Ruck’s public court documents. “The victim said his grandfather did not want to test positive for marijuana use …”

According to police, the boy said his grandfather would not get morphine prescriptions from his pain clinic if he tested positive for marijuana.

Court documents state that the child’s mom, grandmother and grandfather were home when he got sick after taking the pill Monday night.

“His grandmother asked the defendant to take the victim to the emergency room and she refused,” police said in the probable cause statement.

The boy’s mom reportedly sent him to bed. Although he was still sick the next morning, she “forced him to go to school.”

The Mesa Fire and Medical Department took the boy to the hospital, where he tested positive for opiates, according to court documents. When police spoke with Ruck after her son was taken to the hospital, she admitted knowing that he had taken morphine and that the child’s grandmother had suggested she take him to the hospital. She also confirmed her decision to send him to school even though he had vomited half a dozen times throughout the night and the next morning.

“She said she did not know what to do and assumed he was getting better if he was vomiting,” according to court documents.

She also told police she knew precisely what the “pink pill” was – a 30mg dose of morphine. “She knew this because her stepfather has overdosed multiple times on the medication and Mesa Fire Department has had to revive him.”

According to police, the boy told investigators he “has been taking white pills for his grandfather and urinating in a cup for over a year.” Those pills, according to what Ruck told police, are 15mg doses of morphine. The boy said his grandfather, Davis, paid him $20 each time, and then $40 to take half of a pink pill Monday night.

Both Ruck and the boy’s grandmother told police they had an idea Davis was faking his drug tests with the child’s urine but never reported it. “(Ruck) admitted she was aware for at least a month her stepfather was asking her son to urinate in a cup for him and paying him … to do so.” Both she and the boy’s grandmother told investigators that Davis is a drug addict. Although they suspected the faked drug tests, both women denied knowing that Davis had given him morphine in the past, according to police.

On Wednesday, Davis was arrested while leaving Banner Desert Medical Center. Police said they found marijuana and two bottles of morphine on him. Davis told the boy stole his medication, according to court paperwork. He previous arrests for DUI, marijuana possession, drug paraphernalia, firing a gun, disorderly conduct, assault and criminal damage, investigators said.

Ruck was released on her own recognizance under the supervision of Pretrial Services. According to her release order, she’s not allowed to have contact with her son or any witnesses. A status conference is scheduled for Feb. 6, followed by a preliminary hearing on Feb. 12.

Mesa PD confirmed to Arizona’s Family they’ve responded to calls at that house at least six times over the past year for a variety of situations, including a reported assault, a welfare check, and two different family fights.

The grandson’s school district, Mesa Public Schools, said they couldn’t comment because the investigation is still active.

This story first appeared on fellow CNN affiliate KPHO (Arizona’s Family). It is used here with permission.