Mansfield father accused of delaying 911 call for 2 hours in daughter's fentanyl death awaits trial

MANSFIELD, Texas - Jury selection was pushed back to May for the trial of Michael Ray Reed, the Mansfield father accused of waiting more than two hours before calling 911 after his 2-year-old daughter ingested fentanyl-laced pills.

Reed is charged with knowingly causing serious bodily injury to a child. His sister and roommate at the time, Jamie Popovic, also faces charges of abandoning and endangering a child.

2-year-old Mansfield girl overdoses in father's apartment

The backstory:

On the night of Feb. 18, 2024, Mansfield police responded to a call about an unresponsive child, identified as Navaeh Reed, at an apartment on Towne Crossing Boulevard around 10:15 p.m. Paramedics performed CPR on Nevaeh before taking her to a nearby hospital. She was declared brain-dead 10 days later and died at the hospital.

The young girl's father told police that he had fallen asleep in the apartment and woke up to find the child limp and lying on the floor with labored breathing, according to an arrest affidavit.

Michael Reed

According to investigators, Reed later admitted he had not called 911 right away. Instead, he searched online for how to make a child throw up around 8:13 p.m. and tried to do it himself. He also attempted to order Naloxone on DoorDash, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses.

Jamie Popovic

Popovic, Navaeh's aunt, told police she had urged Reed to call 911 earlier, but he refused, saying he didn’t want to lose custody of his children. She also reported seeing blue and white pills around the apartment at the time of the incident.

A third adult in the home, Anthony McDonald, told officers Nevaeh had walked into his room around 8 p.m. "covered in powder." He later heard commotion when Popovic was trying to wake Michael up, saying the child was unresponsive. 

McDonald also tried to make her vomit and said he was aware she was injured because she appeared limp with her head bent backward.

Hours later, Reed called 911 when Nevaeh stopped breathing. When first responders arrived, investigators say he did not tell EMS she may have overdosed. 

Investigators find syringes, fentanyl laced pills

Dig deeper:

Inside the apartment, officers discovered two pills on a desk, a strong odor of marijuana, two burnt marijuana cigarettes, and a syringe on the coffee table.

They also found a blue M30 pill — often counterfeit oxycodone laced with fentanyl — on the living room floor just a few feet from where Popovic said she had picked up Nevaeh. The pill tested positive for fentanyl.

Investigators also uncovered items commonly associated with drug dealing. They found a loaded gun in a kitchen cabinet the child had previously accessed while reaching for ramen noodles.

Girl's mother speaks out

Navaeh Reed (family)

What they're saying:

Nevaeh’s mother, Stephanie Wallace, described her daughter as "full of personality and promise."

"She didn’t know any better," Wallace said. "She probably thought it was candy. Just makes me sad."

"I just want to know why. Why did he wait so long? Why didn’t he call me?" she said. "I’m a medical assistant. Why didn’t he call me? Why wait? That was your baby. Why? That’s all — why?"

What's next:

The jury selection was scheduled for April 14 at 8:30 a.m. FOX 4 learned later in the day that it has been pushed back to May.

Michael Reed remains in Tarrant County jail. His sister, Jamie Popovic, was bailed out.