Evan Frostick and Madison Bernard are suspected of child abuse in connection with the death of their 15-month-old child on Monday, May 9, after authorities said they found what they suspected to be fentanyl in their Santa Rosa home.
According to the Santa Rosa Police Department, the couple was arrested and booked for alleged cruelty to a child likely to produce great bodily injury or death.
As per the San Francisco Chronicle, Santa Rosa police officers, fire officials, and emergency crews responded to a report on Monday morning of an unresponsive toddler at a home on the 800 block of Sonoma Avenue.
Emergency crews found fentanyl near the dead toddler
When authorities arrived, they "noticed suspected fentanyl near the toddler." Emergency personnel immediately began performing life-saving measures on the toddler, who was not breathing. The young girl was transported to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Authorities said that investigators from the Santa Rosa Police Department's narcotic, violence, sexual assault, and violent crimes teams began investigating the toddler's death and executing a search warrant "based on the circumstances."
Santa Rosa police told KTVU that authorities allegedly discovered packaged and unpacked suspected fentanyl and fentanyl paraphernalia "in numerous parts of the primary bedroom, including in the bed the toddler shared with her parents."
Santa Rosa police officers said they might file additional charges against the couple based on the results of the child's autopsy, including a toxicology test that was scheduled to be done later this week.
The toddler's unfortunate death was similar to a separate incident in 2019 when a Santa Rosa man and his 13-month-old son died of an accidental fentanyl overdose. Federal authorities sentenced two people in 2021 for supplying the deadly dose of the drug to the father.
DEA declares fentanyl as the single deadliest drug threat the U.S. has ever faced
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) marked May 10 as "National Fentanyl Awareness Day" to bring more people's attention to overdose deaths across the United States. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram issued a statement about the dangerous drug, saying, "fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered."
Milgram added that fentanyl is everywhere, from large metropolitan areas to rural America, and no community is safe from this poison. Milgram said they must take every opportunity to spread the word to prevent fentanyl-related overdoses claiming scores of American lives every day.
According to Fox News, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Authorities said that drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs to drive addiction and create repeat customers.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths last year. Deaths from fentanyl rose to 71,238 in 2021 from 57,834 in 2020.
