The mom of dual 3-year-old boys who died final week after authorities say they have been uncovered to medicine laced with fentanyl has been charged with homicide and baby abuse.
“These harmless boys reportedly got here into contact with fentanyl, an opioid that has wreaked havoc throughout our communities,” Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón mentioned in an announcement saying the costs Tuesday. “The lethal capabilities of fentanyl can’t be overstated, and it’s our collective accountability to guard those that can’t defend themselves. My workplace is dedicated to holding accountable anybody who exposes weak kids to such harmful substances.”
Jestice James, 22, is charged with two counts of homicide and two counts of kid abuse within the deaths of her sons, Josiah and Jestine, in keeping with the L.A. County aistrict lawyer. She is being held in jail in lieu of $4-million bail.
The toddlers have been discovered unresponsive at their Canoga Park house Thursday and have been rushed to the hospital, the place Josiah was pronounced useless. Jestine arrived in important situation and died two days later.
Prosecutors didn’t launch particulars about what linked the mom to the lethal medicine or the kids’s entry to them. Nonetheless, Los Angeles police mentioned final week that no different residents on the household’s house have been underneath investigation.
“This tragedy is a part of a disturbing pattern the place infants and toddlers are more and more turning into victims of the opioid disaster,” Gascón mentioned.
Officers and docs throughout the state have lately pointed to an increase in younger kids who’ve been killed by fentanyl, an especially potent and addictive artificial opioid that’s thought of Los Angeles’ deadliest drug.
Earlier this yr, a 2-year-old boy in Lancaster died after being uncovered to the drug throughout a go to along with his mom that had been accepted by Los Angeles County’s Division of Kids and Household Providers.
