An Arizona woman was booked Thursday on charges of first-degree murder, child neglect, and drug possession, a year after her son died from fentanyl toxicity, Phoenix police said.
Lynandra Walton, 38, was booked into the Maricopa County Intake, Transfer and Release Jail on June 27, 2024, on four felony counts related to the death of her son on June 15, 2023, court documents stated.
On June 15, 2023, around 12:30 p.m., Phoenix police officers responded to a report of an unresponsive child in an apartment near 55th Avenue and Indian School Road. Upon arrival, court documents said officers found Walton performing CPR on her 15-month-old son.
Walton's son was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead, court records stated. The child's autopsy documented the cause of death as fentanyl toxicity.
Walton told officers that on the day of the incident, her son appeared normal and healthy when she woke up at 6 a.m. before going back to sleep. When she woke up again at an unknown time, he was unresponsive, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Walton and her son were staying at her boyfriend's father's apartment at the time. On the day of the incident, the documents state that the boyfriend's father told officers he saw the child moving around in bed at around 5 a.m., but he did not see the child again until Walton instructed him to call 911.
In their initial response, officers noticed several pieces of foil with burnt residue and several circular light blue pills suspected to be fentanyl, according to court documents. Phoenix police detectives arrived later with search warrants to process the scene.
During their investigation, detectives found several fentanyl pills on the bed where Walton and her son slept, on the floor around the bed and on a nearby chair, along with various items of drug paraphernalia, according to court documents.
The apartment owner told detectives he would throw away pieces of foil he found scattered in the room Walton was staying in, but wasn't aware the foil could be used as drug paraphernalia, according to court records.
In an interview with detectives, Walton denied any drug use and said the drugs and paraphernalia found in the apartment were not hers, court documents said.
Walton told detectives she used to have a problem with drugs but stopped after the birth of her son, court records stated. The Department of Child Safety told investigators Walton had multiple previous reports of illegal drug use and abolished rights with her four other children, documents said.
A toxicology screen revealed that Walton had fentanyl and other substances in her blood on the day of the incident, according to court documents. The apartment owner, however, showed no signs of fentanyl in his blood.
A data extraction from three cell phones and a tablet found in the main bedroom revealed messages between Walton and someone named Eddie on June 8, 2023, according to court records. In these messages, Walton asked to buy a "dub," a term commonly used to refer to $20 worth of marijuana or illegal drugs.
In the text conversation, court documents said Walton stated she was at a specified location and had her baby changed and in a car seat.
In an interview following her arrest, Walton admitted to using fentanyl a few days before her son's death and to using marijuana and Xanax the night before.
Walton admitted she was responsible for the care of the child, according to court documents, but claimed that the fentanyl pills found near where she and her son slept did not belong to her.
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