‘Failed as a father.’ Tri-Cities drug dealer sentenced in fentanyl death of his 4-year-old

An accused Tri-Cities drug dealer will spend the next 10 years in jail for the “Skittles” fentanyl overdose death of his child.

Joseph E. C. Walker , 31, pleaded guilty this week before his trial was about to start for his role in the December death of his 4-year-old daughter Ryleigh.

Benton County Superior Court Judge David Petersen said during the Friday sentencing that while the system had failed Walker as he struggled with his drug addiction, it was his decisions and cavalier attitude about the drugs that led to the death of his daughter.

He said that Walker’s addiction did not make him deal a large quantity of the brightly colored “Skittles” fentanyl, that was his decision.

Walker’s daughter ingested multiple fentanyl pills while he and the girl’s mother Judy Bernice Bribiescas, 39, were allegedly in the bathroom of a hotel room using drugs. The girl was left alone in the room with their 8-year-old son.

Walker was sentenced on four separate charges related to the death.

Petersen sentenced Walker to seven years on the second-degree manslaughter charge, five years on each of two protection order violations and 10 years for the possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

The sentences will be served at the same time, and he’ll be on probation after his release.

Last month, Bribiescas was sentenced to 2 years and 10 months in prison on a second-degree manslaughter charge.

“Every morning I look in the mirror and I’m disgusted,” Walker told the court. “I failed as a father, a son, as a person. No punishment can be worse than losing my baby.”

Walker said that he let his family and children down.

Petersen told Walker that he doesn’t always believe defendants when they express remorse, but he could see the pain on Walker’s face.

He will also have to pay nearly $8,000 to the crime victim’s compensation fund.

Overdose death

While Walker had been ordered to stay away from Bribiescas, security footage showed the two walk into the motel room about 8:20 p.m. that day, court documents said.

Their then 8-year-old son told investigators that while his parents were in the bathroom for a lengthy period of time, Ryleigh swallowed at least two fentanyl pills. Another was later found stuck up her nose.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times more potent than morphine and hundreds of times stronger than street-level heroin, federal officials have said.

Kennewick police tried Naloxone, a nasal spray used to reverse opioid overdoses, but it didn’t work.

Medics rushed her to Trios Southridge Hospital, less than four miles away. Doctors said she was cold to the touch when she arrived, court documents said.

They found two mostly intact pills, along with multiple pill fragments in her stomach. The pill from her nose was pink and similar to what is commonly known as “Skittles” fentanyl. When police searched the motel, they allegedly found more fentanyl.

Bribiescas was initially charged with first-degree manslaughter, and the charge was lessened as part of the agreement to avoid having to make his now 9-year-old son testify.

The death has continued to haunt the child, who apologized to his grandmother for not watching his sister more closely.

“That is a guilt that no child should have to carry. He’s not responsible for the death of his sister,” Deputy Prosecutor Taylor Clark said during Bribiescas’ sentencing.

The boy’s grandparents are taking care of him at this point.