11-year-old girl finds dad unconscious, accidentally jabs herself with his suspected heroin needle

TACOMA -- An 11-year-old University Place girl on Tuesday found her father unconscious on the bathroom floor and tried to wake him, but accidentally jabbed herself with her dad's syringe, the Pierce County Sheriff's Department said. The father apparently died of a heroin overdose.

Spokesman Ed Troyer said the father, 45, was watching his 11-year-old daughter and 4-year-old twin boys in their Hillside Glenn apartment while his wife was gone. His daughter found him unconscious in the bathroom Tuesday morning with a needle in his hand, Troyer said. She accidentally stuck herself while trying to wake up her dad, he added.

The girl was taken to hospital to be checked out.

The father was pronounced dead at 1 p.m.