Story highlights Tacoma residents Ashlee Hutt and Mac Leroy McIver are charged with nine felony counts

Three children allegedly injected with heroin now live in foster homes, police said

(CNN) In the midst of America's alarming heroin epidemic, the drug's damage can best be seen in the faces of children pictured -- like the Ohio boy buckled up in a car behind his two overdosed caretakers -- and those just outside the frame.

For the latter, look no further than a recent case involving two parents in Tacoma, Washington, who could go to prison for decades after allegedly injecting their three young children with heroin. At home, they called it "feel good medicine," according to court records.

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Ashlee Hutt, 24, and Mac Leroy McIver, 25, face a litany of charges including three felony counts each of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to a minor, criminal mistreatment and assault of a child.

Court documents say the Tacoma parents admitted to state social workers that they used heroin, but blamed others when questioned about their children being injected with the drug, according to court documents.

Hutt's attorney, who represented her in court this week, did not respond to CNN's requests for comment. Neither did McIver's lawyer.

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