He's unconscious, not breathing. They said they gave him Narcan. Okay. Don't know how long he's been down. Okay. Brent Sullivan was only 12 years old when his life ended in a cold, dusty backyard shed. It was a heartbreaking scene that exposed the ultimate betrayal by the very people who were supposed to keep him safe. On September 2nd, 2021, a quiet neighborhood in Carlsbad became the backdrop for an absolute nightmare. Police were called to a home on West Pier Street for a child who wasn't [music] breathing, only to find 12-year-old Brent Sullivan cold and unresponsive in a backyard shed. While [music] first responders fought to save him, the adults around him seemed more interested in their own stories than the dying boy. It was a scene of pure chaos that revealed a much darker reality hidden [music] behind that shed door. Oh. I'm sorry. Is backyard? BACKYARD. I'm just going to go around. Where's the big Where's the kid at? Here. How old is he? 48 Carlsbad, a 12-year-old kid not breathing, not conscious, CPR started. COME ON, BUDDY. COME ON, BUDDY. >> BUDDY. What do you have? What is Unconscious juvenile male. Come on, baby. HOW OLD? HOW OLD? HOW OLD? HOW OLD? 12. 12. HEY, MARQUEZ, make sure nobody leaves this house. How long WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME Y'ALL SAW HIM? I just really got home from work. What that kid in the back? How do you know him? He's the grandson and Who lives here? Um Kelly. Kelly? What about this gentleman? Um I know he's a friend of ours. Okay. Okay. Who else is in the house? Uh just the mom. Is this a different house or is it connected? I don't know. I was pointing like towards the house. The mom, Kelly, and um Mike and um he just rolled up. Is this chest raising? Yes, ma'am. I can feel it. Come on, Brent. Come on, baby. Come on. Come on, buddy. Come on, Brent. Come on, Brent. They're right here. RIGHT HERE. THE officers were working overtime to save the boy while the adults gave answers that made zero sense. This place was the literal definition of a flop house filled with unconcerned and pathetic individuals. It was so obvious every single person in that house was doing drugs and just trying to cover their own skins while a child's life hung in the balance. Hey, he's in the backyard in the gate. Come on, buddy. Come on, buddy. Hey, come on, buddy. COME ON, BUDDY. COME ON. TALK TO ME. COME ON, BUDDY. COME BACK. Come back. >> Come on, BRENT. BACK HERE. BACK HERE. COME ON, BUDDY. Come on. COME ON. COME ON, BRENT. Come on, Brent. There we go. 12-year-old, unconscious, stopped breathing. They said they gave him Narcan. Okay. Don't know how long he's been down. Okay. I got you. I GOT I GOT YOU. LET'S GO. GO. OKAY, JUST GRAB EVERYTHING WE JUST DONE from Go, go, go. Go, John, you got them. All right, he's buckling it. Here, you want me to do the chest? 12-year-old. The mother's right back there. Where she at? >> She's in the back. She's in the back? >> Yes, she is. What happened? What do you know? He's been stealing. He's been doing this for a while. Stealing drugs from who? From his mom. From Come on. Come on. What do you know that he took or what do you think he took? Ma'am, this is all important information. No. He took fentanyl. Did you find fentanyl around him? Do you or you think he took it? No, he took it he had taken it yesterday and we we uh Who's the other gentleman that was here? The cold truth finally came out. Little Brent didn't make it and it was a fentanyl overdose that took him. A 12-year-old lost his life and the adults around him were talking about him stealing drugs like it was normal. How does a 12-year-old even know how to use that stuff? It was clear he only knew because he had spent his miserable life watching all of them do it. I don't know. I just pulled up, officer. He just pulled up, bro. Well, you were here with him you were here before I was. Before I got here, listen to me. Before I got here, somebody else said that they saw a male subject leave that backyard with a black backpack. No. Nobody else was here. I'm just telling you what I'm what I'm hearing. I know, but nobody else was here. But I'm telling you when you when you I came down like this. [music] I stopped. I saw you pull up right there and you turned around. Yeah. And I was I was going to leave and I was like, "What the hell's going on?" Okay. So it's like I got down and then that's when you were Okay. here. My phone is dead. I brought him here because I was searching his stuff. I knew that he got I knew he got some stuff, right? Because I I knew he changed his clothes and then he had his phone. I chased him down the street trying to get him to school yesterday. And so he was staying here while I searched through stuff trying to make sure that he didn't have anything. And then I just got a text saying he wasn't here. >> Caleb! And so I ran Were you out here? And then So he He just got home. She said that she's been looking for him. Yeah, he was here alone. That's what she said? Hey, bud. How you doing? Let me talk to you for a little bit over here, man. Yes, sir. No idea What's your name? Eric. Where are you coming [snorts] from, Eric? Right down here on Western Way? What's your last name? Lopez. Eric Lopez? Yes. 21 Carlsbad. Did he just say that the kid was passed out when he left? Said that he left because he he heard that somebody passed out or passed away. So that he That's why he left. Okay. The drama moved to the street where police caught a guy trying to sneak away from the home with a suspicious backpack. He tried to play it cool with a fake name, but the officers weren't buying his lies for a second. On the other side, the grandmother was busy admitting the kid had found her stash. It was a house full of liars all trying to save themselves. Okay. It's a 12-year-old kid, bro. They said they used They said they used Narcan. That That unknown. So that tells me that they know he's some about This kid's using Yeah, the mom had just told just told detective that he's been using and not too long ago. He's been using today. That's my first Yeah, grandma said that Hey, I didn't mean to yell at you, sir. You're good, man. They weren't able to revive the kid? They what? >> They weren't able to revive the kid? I don't believe so. I'm not 100% certain on it. Horrible, man. Yeah. He killed his mom yesterday. And he stashed them somewhere. And um we looked and looked and tried to find them and he promised that he wouldn't and that he didn't have them, but he did. We searched him. It's my fault cuz I was going to I have How long's he been using? This is OD. This is the fourth time he's OD'd. Fourth time he's OD'd on here. No, not here. I mean yeah, his house, too. How many times has he OD'd here? Once. Once? Today? This is twice here. >> Twice here. Kelly, there's a problem here. >> doing I know. I know, but you're still allowing them to come into this house and you got babies. This kid did uh My mom got it. Yeah. Can you explain to me what happened? Hearing that this was his fourth overdose was beyond shocking. Fourth time. And it was spoken about like it was just another bad day. This poor child had a miserable life. The family knew he was stashing pills and foils everywhere. Yet, they kept letting him back into that drug-fueled environment. It was pure neglect. And hearing them try to justify it was enough to make anyone's blood boil with pure anger. I don't know. I don't know like this. Today morning Is today morning I took my girls to school and when I came back I could smell it in the I could smell the hidden smoking pit. I I tried to search him and he took off running from me and I chased him and when I when I Finally I got to keep chasing cuz he kept getting out and when I finally found my brother in here for my mom to watch so that I could search everything and find this cuz he keeps doing this. He did. So today So today you brought him over here that way you could >> today morning. And he's been over here since yesterday? Mhm. Okay. And then I see that like checked my purse and everything trying to find out cuz it's every like he's got places everywhere. With foils and stuff everywhere and I was just trying to find out that She asked me and said she said he wasn't here. Okay. And so I looked all over and he wasn't there and And when I got here I heard him scream. Heard him scream? I heard Mike scream. Okay. >> [crying] >> So grandma, what is grandma's name? Grandma's name Kelly? In the end, this case was a tragic look at what happens when adults choose drugs over their own children. Brent Sullivan never had a chance in a home where the people meant to protect him were actually providing the poison that killed him. The investigation revealed a web of lies, warrants, and weapons that proved this was never a safe place for a child. The legal system finally caught up with this house of horrors. Alexis Murray Smith, the mother, was found guilty of intentional child abuse resulting in death and received a 14-year prison sentence. The grandmother, Kelly Smith, didn't escape justice, either. She was convicted on similar neglect charges and sentenced to 18 years behind bars. Their sentences reflect a massive failure of care that no amount of prison time can ever truly fix. Brent's life was stolen by the very people who should have cherished him most. What do you think about the sentences? Did the judge go easy on them? Or was 18 years enough for such a tragic loss? Share your thoughts in the comments below and subscribe for more deep dives into these cases.