LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Three years ago, Ashley Green was suffering from an addiction to cocaine and had lost custody of her children and her home, she said.
She discovered she was pregnant and entered a treatment facility three days later.
“I was ecstatic,” said Green. “My baby was my redemption. He gave me a second chance at life. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my baby. I’d probably be dead.”
Green stayed in recovery and gave birth to Cassius Ballanger, nicknamed “Cash.”
He loved cookies, the color blue and Paw Patrol.
Four months ago, Green said Cash, 3, was at his father’s house when she got a call in the middle of the night that Cash wasn’t breathing.
“I dropped to my knees,” said Green. “I start begging, God, please don’t take my baby away.”
Cash never recovered.
Green assumed her son died in his sleep until she heard the state’s child protection branch wanted to speak with her about what was in her son’s system, she said.
Cash’s death certificate lists the cause of death as “acute fentanyl intoxication with acetylfentanyl, flurofentanyl and 4-ANPP present in the blood, and benzoylecgonine and morphine present in urine.”
“I’m like, this is not making sense,” said Green. “That’s how my son’s life ended. And he was brought here to save me from that. It just didn’t make sense.”
Green doesn’t know how fentanyl got in her son’s system or where it came from, she said.
Cash’s father, Jeffery Ballanger, said other people were living in his home at the time, and he didn’t know there were any substances containing fentanyl in the home.
When Ballanger woke up, Cash wasn’t responding, he said.
“I just feel like my world is over,” he said. “He was an angel ... Everybody loved him.”
The Louisville Metro Police Department told Spectrum News 1 that it conducted a death investigation and no foul play was suspected.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office said it could not release Cash’s records because the case is still an open investigation.
Now, Green wants to change state law, she said, in her son’s honor. She plans to speak in front of a committee of lawmakers Tuesday.
“It sounds like there’s not going to be no justice, so I can’t let that just go,” she said. “I’m not okay with that … If I can get with the right people and we can fix some type of law to where people are held accountable for when toddlers die. There’s no reason why toddlers should have fentanyl in their system.”
Last year, five Kentucky children between the ages of 1 and 4 died from fentanyl-involved drug overdoses, according to the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center.
Every two weeks, after the grass gets cut, Green puts back a tiny memorial in front of her home.
It reads: “In loving memory of my special angel baby Cash. Forever in our hearts.”
Sometimes, Green sits in Cash’s room, where some of his clothes still have their tags on them. She feels like Cash fought for her, so she fights for him.
“I’m not going to stop until I got a million eyes on him.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Cassius Ballanger died in July. He died in April. The error has been corrected. (Aug. 21, 2023)