Mother accused of killing her child with fentanyl ingestion in North Carolina arrested in Denver

A 23-year-old mother was arrested by local and federal law enforcement in Denver this week over a year after police in North Carolina said her daughter died as a result of fentanyl ingestion.

Riley Wormington has been wanted in connection with the death of her 2-year-old child since February 2024. Police in Mooresville, North Carolina say that at some point after an investigation was launched, she fled North Carolina. She was arrested earlier this week near 38th and Blake Streets by a task force comprising the U.S. Marshals Service, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Douglas County Sheriff's Office, and Englewood Police Department.

"Shortly after giving birth to a second child, Riley Tehy Wormington, 23, the mother of the deceased, moved out of state while the investigation continued," Mooresville PD said in a statement. "The Mooresville Police Department would like to thank the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance in the successful arrest of Wormington."

She appears to have a history in Colorado prior to the death of her child. Court records in Colorado show she got a traffic ticket in Adams County in 2023 and in Arapahoe County in 2020. And a 2023 arrest warrant out of North Carolina for a failure to appear in court for a traffic ticket there lists a Brighton, Colorado address.

The nature of her ties to Colorado were not immediately clear and officials in North Carolina did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

Regarding the death of Wormington's child, she has active warrants for second-degree murder, felony child abuse, felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, felony maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia, Mooresville PD said.

Additional warrants were also obtained after the birth of her second child for felony child abuse, felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, felony maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Womrington is currently being held in the Denver Downtown Detention Center. She'll be transferred back to Iredell County, pending an extradition hearing.

Mooresville is about 30 miles north of Charlotte.