7-Year-Old Pennsylvania Girl Find Parents Dead In Home From Suspected Drug Overdose

Two Pennsylvania parents — Christopher Dilly, 26, and 25-year-old Jessica Lally — were found dead in their home Monday evening after their 7-year-old daughter alerted school officials that her “mommy and daddy wouldn’t wake up,” according to WPXI.

On the morning of October 3, the couple’s daughter — whose name has not been released — had awakened to find her parents unresponsive in their apartment home in McKeesport. She tried desperately to wake them, but it was to no avail.

However, instead of notifying police or neighbors, the girl went on with her day. She got herself dressed and waited for her school bus to transport her to school.

The girl kept quiet about her parents throughout the day until after school when she was on her way home. She told her bus driver that there was something wrong with her parents because they wouldn’t wake up that morning.

Allegheny County police officials were immediately notified and arrived at the home in the 900 block of Evans Street around 5 p.m. for a welfare check and discovered Dilly and Lally dead in the den from a suspected drug overdose.

Three other children — aged five, three, and nine months — were also found in the home.

Although the children were not injured, they were transported to a local hospital to be checked out. Afterward, they were placed in the care of the Department of Children and Families.

Lt. Andrew Schurman stated that it appeared the couple may have been dead inside in their home for a day or two before they were discovered.

According to the Mirror, Lally’s sister — Courtney — had been trying to get the children help for months after learning they were living in deplorable conditions.

In a Facebook post, Courtney stated that she was left “shocked by the overwhelming mess and stench inside the house” and decided to post pictures of her sister’s home.

“This is how Jessica Leigh Lally lives with her children and Christopher Dilly,” she wrote. “Flood Facebook with this in until it gets to them. I want people to see what dirty bad parents they truly are.”

Courtney went on to say that “it’s so sad they do not care about their children — never have, never will. They beat their kids and make them stand in the corner all day. Their children are so damaged, it’s not funny’.”

Local authorities stated that it was the second overdose they’ve “responded to on that block in less than a day.”

Christopher Dilly, Jessica Lally drug overdose to death: ‘Mommy and daddy won’t wake up’ https://t.co/bHx9QbybEX #parenting #drug addiction

— Scallywagandvagabond (@ScallywagNYC) October 5, 2016

Gov. Tom Wolf stated that the “opioid epidemic facing Pennsylvania is a public health crisis, the likes of which we have not before seen. Every day, we lose 10 Pennsylvanians to the disease of addiction. This disease does not have compassion, or show regard for status, gender, race, or borders.”

“It affects each and every Pennsylvanian, and threatens entire communities throughout our commonwealth. The disease of addiction has taken thousands of our friends and family members. In the past year alone we lost over 3,500 Pennsylvanians — a thousand more lives taken than the year before.”

Wolf added that “Addiction too often is an invisible problem but in Pennsylvania the problem is visible: In the lives lost. The families broken. The communities shaken.”

After the McKeesport School District learned that one of their student’s parents was found dead in their home, they issued the following statement.

“Our school district took immediate action after we were notified of the concerns shared by one of our students on their route home.”

“We alerted all appropriate officials and ensured the students’ safety. Each school in our district offers counseling to any student who needs it. We will be available for the family affected by this tragedy.”

Courtney has since created a Go Fund Me account to help with her sister’s funeral expenses.

Allegheny County police say the couple died inside their home from a suspected drug overdose, but it has not been confirmed.

A local medical examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

[Featured Image via Christopher Dilly/Facebook]