Colorado mother sentenced in fentanyl-related death of her daughter

DENVER ( KDVR ) — A mother has been sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison in connection to the fentanyl-related death of her daughter.

A Weld County district judge sentenced 32-year-old Mystique Sade Wadena to spend over a decade in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Wadena pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death – criminal negligence in a plea deal.

“The severity of the defendant’s choices, and the impact this has had on not only her family and other children, but quite frankly the rest of our community, is simply devastating,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wrenn said during Friday morning’s sentencing hearing. “No amount of time in prison will bring this child back, but we do believe this is an appropriate sentence. We hope this sends a message to our community that this type of negligent behavior won’t be tolerated in Weld County.”

The sentencing stems from an incident on May 2, 2022, when emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from a hotel in Firestone.

According to the 19th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, when paramedics arrived at the hotel, they found a 12-year-old girl unresponsive. She was immediately taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead on May 7, 2022.

Per the autopsy report, the girl died of complications related to acute fentanyl toxicity.

Investigators found Wadena had been using and dealing fentanyl in the hotel room. According to the district attorney’s office, she planned to have her three children, who police said were not in her legal custody, visit her hotel room the night before the 911 call was made.

According to the investigators, two of Wadena’s children consumed some of their mother’s fentanyl pills, which ultimately killed the 12-year-old.

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