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Allentown Parents Charged For Toddler's 2021 Fentanyl Overdose: DA

A man and a woman face third-degree murder charges three years after their 22-month-old son died from a fentanyl overdose, the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office says.

Fentanyl

Fentanyl

Photo Credit: DEA.gov

Jorge Suarez-Santiago, 32, and Jayleen Rivas-Rodriguez, 35, are both wanted on arrest warrants, prosecutors said in a release on Wednesday, April 17. 

According to investigators, their son Johansy Suarez-Rivas died at St. Luke’s Hospital-Sacred Heart on April 5, 2021. Authorities said he had 16.5 nanograms per millimeter of fentanyl in his blood at the time. 

Suuarez-Rivas' cause of death was ruled fentanyl toxicity and the manner of death was accidental, the release says. 

Prosecutors said Rivas-Rodriguez left the child in Suarez-Santiago's care before leaving the house for several hours that morning, "despite knowing that Suarez-Santiago was visibly intoxicated."

"Rivas-Rodriguez provided Suarez-Santiago heroin prior to leaving Johansy in his care that day," the release says. 

When she returned home later, Rivas-Rodriguez found the toddler unresponsive, authorities said. Investigators later determined he had ingested a lethal dose of fentanyl. 

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