Schoolgirl, 11, caught selling heroin on street

AN eleven-year-old girl sold heroin on the street while dressed in her school uniform, or even her pyjamas, doing the bidding of her mother and a man who may be her stepfather, US police said.

Investigators and prosecutors will meet this week to decide whether to charge the girl, whose name has not been released. In the meantime, she and her seven-year-old sister have been turned over to the custody of the Department of Children and Families.

“It was disturbing,” said police sergeant, Ruben Rodriguez. “Once we found out the real age of the child, we were in utter shock. We knew we were dealing with a baby, but we originally thought she was around 15.”

The girl’s mother, Alison Lolanda Davis, 36, was arrested in a raid by police and Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

Officers said they seized ten grams of heroin, two grams of crack cocaine, ten Xanax pills and two grams of marijuana, along with $1,300 and drug paraphernalia. A 60-year-old man, who may be Davis’ husband, remains at large.

Police said they started watching the girl’s home in October, after receiving a tip. Officers said they saw the girl regularly selling $10 and $20 doses of heroin to drivers and pedestrians, sometimes dressed in her school uniform, or pyjamas. Undercover officers say they also made purchases of their own.

Experts say using a child as a dealer is rare, but not unique.

“We have kids being used as decoys or couriers or making actual sales, usually fronting for someone else on the street, usually an adult,” DEA spokesman, Joe Kilmer, said.

Davis is jailed on multiple drug possession and trafficking charges, with an arraignment set for January 23. Police said they will ask prosecutors to also charge Davis with child exploitation.

There was no immediate response to calls seeking comment from the Miami-Dade County Public Defender’s Office yesterday, and no word if Davis has an attorney.