An Irvine mother is facing criminal charges after her 23-month-old son was exposed to fentanyl and had to be revived, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday.
The boy stopped breathing until he was given CPR, prosecutors said. He remains hospitalized at CHOC.
Jacqueline Hunter, 30, was charged with a felony count of child abuse and endangerment with a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury to a child, along with two misdemeanor charges of possessing a controlled substance, according to Orange County Superior Court records.
Hunter has pleaded not guilty to the charges, court records show. If convicted as charged, she faces up to 12 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege that shortly after the toddler returned from a doctor’s appointment for a broken leg on Jan. 9 he began struggling to breathe. His father reportedly provided CPR until paramedics arrived.
The boy tested positive for fentanyl at the hospital, prosecutors said.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer accused the mother of refusing to provide information about the possible fentanyl exposure to the paramedics to help save her child, calling it “beyond unbelievable.”
“There is absolutely no reason that little boy is sitting in a hospital bed right now unable to breathe on his own,” Spitzer said in a prepared statement. “A parent’s only job is to protect their children from harm and because of a selfish decision by his mother, this baby is fighting to survive.”
A search of the family’s Irvine home by law enforcement allegedly turned up a baggie of fentanyl and Xanax pills, according to the DA office.
Prosecutors say Hunter’s husband is not believed to have known about the drugs. The mother is accused of “allowing the baby to access” them, according to a DA statement.
Prosecutors unsuccessfully requested that bail in the case be increased from $100,000 to $500,000 due to the seriousness of the charges. Instead, prosecutors say Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Sheri Sandecki reduced bail to $30,000, a decision that Spitzer criticized.
“The Orange County bench needs to start taking fentanyl cases seriously — and impose the appropriate bail that reflects the seriousness of the offense and the potentially irreversible damage this woman did to her own child,” the DA said.
Judicial officers are ethically prohibited from publicly discussing cases that are before the court, Orange County Superior Court Spokesman Kostas Kalaitzidis responded when asked about Spitzer’s criticism of the commissioner’s bail decision.
Hunter as of Thursday afternoon was still listed as being in jail custody, according to Orange County Sheriff’s Department records.
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