A grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, has indicted a man and a woman in connection to the death of their baby girl, who died last summer after overdosing on fentanyl at their home.
Juan Olivia-Ruiz, 19, and Shantica Tillery, 23, were indicted on felony charges of involuntary manslaughter, child cruelty resulting in serious injury and child abuse and neglect, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano announced Monday.
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Police responded to the couple's apartment on South Kings Highway on June 21, 2022 after Tillery noticed her baby wasn't breathing, prosecutors said. The girl died a short time later at the hospital.
The baby accidentally took a fentanyl pill that was left out on the floor at the apartment, authorities said.
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"Through our investigation we were able to determine that the parents were at fault for this," Fairfax County Police Maj. Jeff Reiff said.
Authorities removed the couple's other child from the home after the baby's overdose.
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Reiff said it was a preventable tragedy and he hopes others who are dealing with drug problems can learn from the incident.
"Reach out and try to seek help before, unfortunately, something like this occurs," he said.
The baby had no other signs of physical abuse, police said.
"There's accidents that happen and, of course, we deal with accidents in Fairfax County all the time where parents lose children, but when it comes to looking at the code sections and looking at a malice part of it, that's what I think determines between commonwealth attorney and the detectives on how the route of the case goes," Reiff said.
If convicted of all counts, Oliva-Ruiz and Tillery would each face up to 25 years in prison.
A court date will be set later this month.
