Two Central Florida adults are facing manslaughter charges after a 2-year-old girl died from acute mitragynine intoxication, with police saying they knew she had ingested kratom and did not call 911 despite alarming symptoms.
Jonnie Jordan was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center unresponsive on May 18 and was pronounced dead there, according to WFTV. Investigators said Jonnie had been staying at a Palm Bay home with her father and Charlene O’Connell before the medical emergency.
Police allege Jonnie got access to the adults’ kratom pills and swallowed as many as two and a half. They said the adults saw her lips turn blue, noticed seizure-like activity and abnormal breathing, but did not seek medical help before the child was taken back to a West Melbourne apartment and put to bed.
After Jonnie was later found unresponsive, her father, Jerome Jonathon Jordan, transported her to the hospital, investigators said. The Brevard County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that she died from acute mitragynine intoxication, and WFTV reported that Jordan, 35, and O’Connell, 32, were each charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect with great bodily harm.
Florida Is Warning About Kratom-Related Products
The case arrives as state officials are warning families about the risks associated with kratom-related substances. In June, the Florida Department of Health warned about concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine products, which it said can cause respiratory depression, seizures, and addiction.
Those 7-OH products are not necessarily the same as the kratom pills identified in the West Melbourne case, and investigators have not publicly described the specific product involved. Still, the department urged anyone who suspects poisoning or overdose to call 911 or Florida Poison Control.
A 2026 study in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology reviewed Florida medical examiner records from five years and identified 38 deaths attributed to mitragynine, along with 111 additional deaths in which mitragynine was present but other substances were also involved. The researchers said the findings point to a concentration-dependent association between mitragynine and fatal toxicity, though the study does not establish anything beyond the specific medical examiner findings in Jonnie’s case.
Both Suspects Remain Held Without Bond
Jordan and O’Connell are being held without bond at the Brevard County Jail, and police said the investigation remains ongoing. Jordan’s sister, who accompanied him to the hospital, is not facing charges, according to investigators.
The charges are allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
