(BCN) -- The parents of an infant who died from "acute fentanyl intoxication" in May are being charged with murder and child abuse, according to court papers the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office filed Thursday.
Evan Frostick, 26, and Madison Bernard, 23, of Santa Rosa, were charged with the felonies after Bernard fell asleep in bed with her 15-month-old infant daughter and the child ingested fentanyl on May 9, according to the county coroner. Fentanyl is a highly potent opioid that can kill in even trace amounts, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
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According to the coroner's report, "the decedent's mother had been using fentanyl and 'went back to sleep,' leaving loose drugs and paraphernalia in the bed." The coroner ruled the death accidental.
In addition to the two felonies, the parents are being charged with a special allegation of "willful harm or injury resulting in death." A criminal record search of the infant's mother, Bernard, yields no history in Sonoma County, but the father, Frostick, has a rap sheet going back to 2015, beginning with a vandalism conviction.
Frostick was on probation at the time of his arrest in May for a 2020 DUI involving a controlled substance, court records show. It was his second arrest for DUI in two years, the first one occurring in 2018 for driving with a blood-alcohol level of .18.
District Attorney Jill Ravitch had the option of charging the pair with manslaughter instead of murder but chose the more punitive option. Frostick is scheduled to submit a plea on Aug. 11.
A plea date for Bernard is not listed on county court schedules.
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