A Syracuse man, Curtis Rouse, has been sentenced to five years in state prison, after he pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide.
According to CNY News, the charge was related to the April 2023 fentanyl overdose death of two-year-old Mehlaya Blue.
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| Mehlaya Blue |
On April 25, 2023, Mehlaya's mother, Heaven Blue, dropped her daughter off for an overnight visit with the child’s paternal grandmother, Natasha Gregory, also known as Natasha Newton.
Gregory and her live-in boyfriend, Curtis Rouse, were responsible for taking care of the toddler that night.
Later that night, Gregory left for wok leaving the chid alone with her live in boyfriend
According to police reports, Rouse discovered Mehlaya unresponsive the next morning, with blood coming from her nose and mouth.
He immediately contacted Gregory, who was at work at the time, and then called 911.
Emergency medical personnel responded and transported the child to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy conducted by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner revealed shocking details about the toddler's death,
as reported by Syracuse.com
Mehlaya had swallowed both fentanyl and cocaine, and the amount of fentanyl in her body was about 15 times more than what could kill an adult.
The autopsy also found unexplained bruises on the toddler’s face and back, injuries that were never explained till date.
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| Mehlaya Blue |
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| Mehlaya's mother, Heaven Blue during an interview with Syracuse.com |
When investigators from the Syracuse Police Department interviewed the grandmother's live-in boyfriend, Rouse, his statements were inconsistent.
He initially claimed that Mehlaya had been knocked over by the family dog outside the residence, but later changed his story, saying she had fallen from a scooter.
These explanations were contradicted by surveillance footage from the property, which showed that the child never came outside during her overnight visit.
However, the same surveillance footage showed Rouse leaving the home alone for about 25 minutes while Gregory was at work, leaving the toddler alone and unsupervised.
Eventually, Natasha Gregory and her boyfriend were arrested in connection to Mehlaya's murder.
During the investigation, detectives carried out a search and found an unregistered "ghost gun" at the house.
This led to extra charges against both defendants because their past felony convictions made it illegal for them to own guns.
Gregory posted bail on the weapons charge, while Rouse remained in custody at the Onondaga County Justice Center on $50,000 bond.
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| Curtis Rouse and his lawyer at his sentencing |
The case was eventually delayed for 15 months before prosecutors charged Gregory and Rouse with criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child
During this period, Heaven Blue, Mehlaya's mother, expressed frustration with the slow pace of the investigation.
She also shared that it took eight months before she was told the cause of her daughter's death, and it was a child protective services worker, not law enforcement, who finally gave her the information.
She described Mehlaya as a happy child, saying she had her when she was 18 and promised to give her the best life.
Heaven also shared that she grew up without parental love, and her mother struggled with mental health issues, so she vowed to be the best mom to her daughter, only for this to happen.
The plea agreement reached in the case saw Rouse admit guilt to both the homicide and weapons charges, while all counts against Gregory were dismissed.
In January 2025, Rouse admitted that he brought the drugs that made Mehlaya overdose in their home.
The sentencing, handed down by an Onondaga County judge, brings some closure to a case that has drawn significant attention to child welfare and drug-related fatalities in Central New York.
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