The fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine peddler left his son to die last March while he ran outside to avoid arrest and hide his stash. He was so panicked he fell with a face-plant just off the shelter steps.
Sklar and his drug supplier, Ahuva Katzin, 33, were indicted on February 3, 2026, and charged by federal authorities with conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death.
Is there anything worse than abandoning your own child as he struggles hopelessly for life?
The federal charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Both of the boy’s parents are said to have been using fentanyl themselves at the time of his death. Likely, they were too stoned to save him, if they had even bothered to try.
Is there anything worse than abandoning your own child as he struggles hopelessly for life?
Sklar, at least, contacted emergency services before fleeing to hide his precious drugs, which police later found stashed in a black bag in Sklar’s BMW X5 rental.
“Once again, we are forced to confront the reckless disregard for human life shown by those who allegedly traffic fentanyl and other illicit narcotics,” said DEA New York Task Force Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher Roberts. “This case reminds us of the danger that fentanyl presents, especially when our most vulnerable, our children, are exposed to it. A 4-year-old’s home is the last place fentanyl should ever be.”
When EMT first responders arrived at the Women in Need shelter in Flatbush, they discovered little Aron Sklar unresponsive—his pupils were pinpoints and he was foaming at the mouth. They administered Narcan in an attempt to reverse the poisoning and took him to Maimonides Medical Center and Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where he died.
“Anytime a child dies, it’s completely tragic because a child is completely innocent,” Roberts said.
“Instead of stopping, they allegedly continued to distribute fentanyl and other dangerous drugs across New York,” said US Attorney Jay Clayton of Sklar and Katzin.
“You would hope that after allegedly being responsible for the death of your son, you would stop,” Roberts said. “That did not happen.” Instead, Sklar remained wide open for business.
Sklar and his wife, Miriam Elkayam, had already been arrested in March 2025 and charged in state court with abandonment of a child and criminal possession of a controlled substance. The pair still face those charges.
“This was an incredibly heartbreaking and shocking tragedy, and we offer our deepest condolences to all those who have been impacted,” a NYC Department of Social Services spokesperson said in a statement.
In this case, “heartbreaking” and “heartless” describe the same tragedy that has plunged thousands of families into pain and devastation due to fentanyl.
The problem is, talk is cheap.
In 2023 alone, some 73,000 Americans died from ingesting synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Fentanyl is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine. It is highly addictive and destroys lives.
In other words, it is the devil in white powder.
When will we stop mouthing pointless regrets, mea culpas and apologies and actually start doing something to stop this bitter epidemic savaging our country?
Little Aron Sklar is certainly in good company. In 2023 alone, some 73,000 Americans died from ingesting synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Between 2015 and 2023, the number of cases of nonfatal fentanyl poisoning involving children under 12 leapt by nearly 1,000 percent.
Do we care about Aron Sklar? How about all the other children like him?
If the answer is yes, isn’t it time that each of us did something to stop the carnage?
Drug dealers like Sklar and Katzin will lie to you and your children. They’ll tell you their drugs are pure, when they have no idea what’s in them. They’ll tell you that there is a safe, controlled dosage, when they have no clue how little of their lethal merchandise will send you on a one-way trip to the grave. They’ll lie to you about just how addictive their drugs are.
In short, they’ll tell any lies they need to tell to get their hands on your money—which is all they care about.
The only way to beat their lies is with the truth.
The Foundation for a Drug-Free World, the world’s largest nongovernmental drug education and prevention campaign, delivers just that. The nonprofit publishes 15 booklets of solid, straight facts about the most common drugs, and recently released the latest in their series, The Truth About Fentanyl.
Over 170 million copies of the 15 booklets have been distributed in 20 languages in every country on Earth, contributing to a historic decline in US fatalities from overdose.
Yes, the truth can save lives.
And we must use it to do exactly that.
We need to make America a solemn promise: no more Aron Sklars.
