The parents of an 18-month-old girl in San Jose have been charged with murder in connection with the toddler's fentanyl-related death, officials said Wednesday.
The toddler, identified as W. Doe, died of fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity in the family's San Jose home back in August, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
The child's parents, 27-year-old Derek Vaughn Rayo and 28-year-old Kelly Gene Richardson, had fentanyl and other opioids in their systems at the time of the toddler's death, the district attorney's office said.
"As many of us gather with our families this week, please give a moment to think of W. Doe – this innocent child and her sad and stolen life," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. "This is not a law enforcement official overreacting to an illegal substance. Fentanyl will kill you as easily as a bullet. It is killing the children of our community.”
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San Jose police initially responded to the family's house on the 1500 block of Huddersfield Court on the night of Aug. 12 after Rayo called 911, the district attorney's office said. First responders determined that the toddler had been dead for hours.
Investigators searching the home found fentanyl on a nightstand in the master bedroom, a scraping tool with fentanyl residue on a desk and another scraping tool with fentanyl on a rug under the toddler's body, according to the district attorney's office.
Authorities seized multiple electronic devices belonging to the parents and found text messages and social media messages showing evidence of narcotic use at the home when the toddler was there, the district attorney's office said. On Richardson's phone, authorities found photos and videos showing Rayo smoking narcotics near the child.
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Rayo and Richardson would ask other people over text messages and social media messages to leave narcotics in the house in open and unsecure places that were accessible to the toddler, according to the district attorney's office.
People living with the couple and Richardson herself did express concerns about narcotic use around the toddler, according to the district attorney's office.
This marks the first time the district attorney's office has charged parents for the murder of their child in a fentanyl-related death, the office said.
If they are convicted, the parents face at least 15 years to life in prison, according to the district attorney's office.'
Rayo was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon, but he refused to come out of his jail cell. In his absence, the judge ordered him to be held on no bail without prejudice and rescheduled his arraignment for Monday.
Richardson, who wasn't in custody as of Wednesday, does not have an arraignment scheduled, according to the district attorney's office.
This case comes on the heels of a similar case earlier this month in which a father was arrested for felony endangerment after his 3-month-old, called Baby Phoenix, was found dead from fentanyl.
