Mom put children to bed, then her 3-year-old died of fentanyl poisoning in DC, feds say

The mother of a 3-year-old girl who died of fentanyl poisoning after federal prosecutors said she laid the child down for a nap has pleaded guilty in her daughter’s death in Washington, D.C., according to officials.

The woman had put her two children, including the 3-year-old, in bed at a home they were staying at the afternoon of Oct. 28, 2022, before she found the girl “ unconscious and unresponsive ,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in an Oct. 15 news release.

The girl died at a hospital that day, prosecutors said.

Two blue pills and a half pill were found on top of the bed where the child had been sleeping, according to prosecutors, who said the two whole pills were tested and had a mix of substances, including acetaminophen, fentanyl and fluorofentanyl. The half pill was Xanax, prosecutors said.

The woman, 28, of D.C., pleaded guilty Oct. 15 to voluntary manslaughter, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Her defense attorney didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Oct. 15.

McClatchy News is not identifying the woman to protect the identity of her other child.

On Feb. 15, the woman was arrested on a first-degree felony murder charge , according to a Feb. 17 news release.

Her daughter’s cause of death was due to “fentanyl and fluorofentanyl intoxication,” prosecutors said. Fentanyl is a strong synthetic opioid that is medically used to manage pain.

The woman initially pleaded not guilty to the murder charge — and also pleaded not guilty to first-degree cruelty to children — in D.C. Superior Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

By pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter, the woman agreed to receive a four- to 10-year prison sentence and to be sentenced to five years of supervised release, according to prosecutors.

The woman’s sentencing is set for Jan. 3, court records show.

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