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St. Paul parents charged with manslaughter in toddler's fentanyl overdose death

St. Paul toddler may have died of drug overdose, officials say
St. Paul toddler may have died of drug overdose, officials say 01:30

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A mother and father from St. Paul are accused of causing the death of their 1-year-old son after he overdosed on Christmas Day.

A 38-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman have each been charged with one count of second-degree manslaughter, according to the complaint filed in Ramsey County on Wednesday.

Police were called to the 1000 block of Fifth Street East in St. Paul on a report of an 18-month-old child who was not breathing and had been exposed to fentanyl. Officers arrived to find the mother performing CPR on her unconscious son. He was taken to a hospital where he later died. The medical examiner determined the child's cause of death to be fentanyl toxicity.

Charges say inside the residence, officers noticed crumpled tinfoil with suspected drug residue on the couch next to the father and his 4-year-old daughter. When asked how much fentanyl the young boy had consumed, he allegedly told officers he didn't know and to ask the boy's mother, claiming the drugs belonged to her and he did not use fentanyl.

The mother told police she had been in the shower for half an hour, leaving the father to watch their son. She claims the last time she saw her 18-month-old son moving around had been at 1 p.m. — just before she took a shower. The father later said he did not remember being awake when she went to shower.

To prevent further fentanyl exposure, police had everyone leave the house. When picking up the couple's 1-month-old child to take him outside, an officer reported the infant having a "white substance" on his forehead. Officers also noted a large piece of tinfoil with residue on it where the couple's 4-year-old daughter had been sitting on the couch and not breathing.

The infant and his sister were taken to a hospital for medical evaluation before being placed by child protection. Court documents show the infant boy tested positive for fentanyl when he was born in November last year and child protection was already involved at the time of the 18-month-old boy's death.

Charges say the mother told investigators that after her shower, she came downstairs to find her 18-month-old son lying on his father in the living room. She then went to get a bowl of cereal and, upon coming back, she found her son facedown on the couch.

After calling 911, the two say they administered Narcan to the boy and attempted CPR before first responders arrived and took over.

The mother allegedly admitted she had smoked fentanyl the evening prior, but says not at home. She added she occasionally smoked in the bathroom at home.

The father told police he had fallen asleep on the couch between midnight and 2 a.m. the night before and when he woke up, he found his son asleep on the couch. He noticed his son's purple lips but said he thought it may have been from drinking juice before he realized his son was not breathing.

During a search of the couple's residence, investigators found drug paraphernalia that tested positive for fentanyl, fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Charges say the father denied using drugs when asked about the tinfoil squares around his house and blamed it on his partner, saying she had used drugs "through every pregnancy" and that he "should have never agreed to bring [the newborn] home." He added that their son had "obviously gotten into something that shouldn't have been laying around the house," according to the complaint.

The mother, however, allegedly told police she had been lying to child protection by claiming the boy's father was not using drugs when he was. She said he usually smoked on the back porch, but he could have smoked near the kids while she had been showering.

The father has nine prior felony convictions and is currently facing a felony theft charge.

The mother has a prior felony DWI conviction and is currently in custody on a new felony DWI charge after being found slumped over in the driver's seat of a running car at a gas station last week.


Note: The video above originally aired on Dec. 26, 2024.

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