ENFIELD, Conn. (WFSB) – Five newly released search warrants reveal that 12-year-old Eve Rogers had a lethal level of Diphenhydramine — commonly known as Benadryl — in her system when she died in March. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner says the cause and manner of death remain pending.
Rogers was found unresponsive at her home on Elm Street the morning of March 18. She was pronounced dead at 10:37 a.m. Pills were found next to her body. Police said she was undressed from the waist down and covered by a blanket.
Eve’s mother told detectives she last saw her daughter the night before, around 8 to 8:30 p.m., when Eve was in her locked bedroom. The mother said she went to wake her daughter the following morning and, receiving no response to knocking, used a butter knife to open the door. She found Eve face down on the floor, according to the warrants.
On April 8, 2026, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner notified Enfield Police Department detectives that toxicology testing was complete. The report indicated a Diphenhydramine level of 23,000 nanograms per milliliter in Eve’s femoral blood. A lethal dose for a child is documented at 4,390 ng/ml — and 14,720 ng/ml in adults. The medical examiner said it would take approximately 1.8 liters — nearly 60 ounces — of liquid Benadryl to reach a level of 23,000 ng/ml.
Also detected in Eve’s system was Fluoxetine, known by the trade name Prozac, which she had not been prescribed. Eve had been prescribed Amphetamine and Trazodone, but neither was found in her system, according to the warrants.
A bottle of sleep aid pills — identified as blue gel capsules containing Diphenhydramine HCL 50mg — was found in the basement bedroom of the home during a search on April 7, 2026. The bottle was originally filled with 250 capsules and contained only three at the time of the search. Eve’s mother told detectives she controlled the medication and provided it to Eve to help her sleep.
Examination of Eve’s gastrointestinal tract found no colored dye consistent with the blue gel capsules or other colored forms of Diphenhydramine, according to the warrants. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said a dye-free form of Diphenhydramine could have caused the overdose without leaving visible staining.
Investigators have not been able to determine the specific type of Diphenhydramine ingested, how it got into Rogers’ system, or how she had access to it.
Enfield police questioned Rogers’ mother and stepfather, Anthony Federline, 39, after DNA swabs from a sexual assault kit performed on Rogers positively matched Federline. On April 2, Federline was arrested and charged with sexual assault in the first degree and risk of injury to a minor. Federline is due back in court at the end of the month.
The new search warrants seek records from Federline’s Facebook and Snapchat accounts, as well as CVS Caremark and Amazon purchase histories from January through March 2026 — the period leading up to Rogers’ death. Detectives said they were seeking purchase history for products containing Diphenhydramine and communications between Federline and Eve Rogers, according to the warrants.
Enfield police said they have requested further search warrants be sealed to protect the ongoing investigation. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has not yet released an official cause of death.
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