In an unprecedented move, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office has charged two accused drug dealers with murder for their part in the fentanyl overdose death of an 18-month-old child.
Phillip Ortega and Paige Vitale lived in the San Jose condo with the child, known in court as baby Winter, and were there the day she died in August.
Prosecutors said baby Winter had 15 times the lethal amount of fentanyl in her blood when she died at her home.
Prosecutors said Ortega and Vitale sold drugs to baby Winter's parents and were dealing drugs out of the condo. Investigators said they found videos showing them using drugs in the same room as the child.
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"What makes the evidence in this case different is the repeated and numerous examples where the individuals showed how they knew that fentanyl was dangerous and that it was lethal, that they used fentanyl around this child anyway," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.
Baby Winter’s parents have also been charged with murder.
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The two cases will be tried together.
This marks the first time in county history that parents have been charged with murder for an overdose death of their own child.
Ortega and Vitale did not enter a plea in court Wednesday. They are expected to return to court later this month.
