NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Revealing new video shows a toddler living in a Nashville homeless encampment, months before she was killed by fentanyl poisoning in November.
Ariel Rose was less than two years old when Metro Nashville Police Department officials say they spotted her living with her father in a tent surrounded by mud and needles.
The officer walked up to the tent where Ariel was waving from the other side of a screen opening.
You can hear frustration in the officer’s voice as he tells Ariel’s father that the toddler was not supposed to be there.
“I’ve seen that child in here one too many times and I’m not happy,” the officer said.
The officer repeated over and over that Ariel should not have been there. Ariel’s father explained that this was only temporary and that Ariel had not been there long. There had been rumors last spring of a child living in what was considered Nashville’s most notorious homeless encampment.
This was now indisputable evidence of Ariel Rose living at the since-closed encampment with her father. At one point the camera points down and the officer says there are needles within feet of the tent.
He then tells Ariel’s father and a woman also staying in the tent that he now must notify the Department of Children Services.
“That child is in danger in here,” the officer said.
“Yes sir. I guess having a father is not that important,” the woman said.
“Having one and having one that plays the role correctly are two different things,” the officer responded.
It’s hard to understand exactly what was said by Ariel’s father, but he seemed to urge the officer to contact DCS before walking away.
The officer begins to search the campsite and tells the woman left behind that he’s aware of Ariel’s father and what he’s been involved with in the past.
“You’re around it. Even if you’re not doing it, you’re around it,” the officer said.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates spoke with Ariel’s paternal grandfather last year who told us there were multiple calls to DCS before Ariel eventually began staying with her aunt.
The toddler proved too much for her before Ariel once again relocated, this time to her grandmother who was staying at a Nashville treatment facility.
Ariel was later found dead by a babysitter after police say she was exposed to deadly amounts of fentanyl.
Metro Police tell us they don’t know how long she stayed at the facility before her death.
They’re investigating her death as a homicide, but there have been no arrests to this point.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates reached out to DCS and they tell us they’re cooperating with Metro Police on their investigation, but wouldn’t elaborate on Ariel’s case any further.
This is a developing story, so we’ll have details as they become available.
