A Fremont mother pleaded guilty this week to involuntary manslaughter in the death of her youngest toddler, who fatally overdosed on the powerful narcotic fentanyl just two weeks shy of his second birthday. Sophia Gastelum-Vera, 27, formally agreed to the plea deal Wednesday after prosecutors voiced plans to drop a slew of lesser charges in … Read more
In an effort to reverse an alarming trend of fentanyl overdose deaths among infants and toddlers, state Sen. Dave Cortese has introduced legislation intended to provide counties with better tools to protect the Golden State’s youngest opioid victims. The San Jose Democrat said his legislation was inspired by ongoing reporting by the Bay Area News … Read more
In what prosecutors call a highly unusual development in a high-profile murder case, a San Jose mom is expected to be released from jail this week without posting bail as she waits for her trial in the fentanyl overdose death of her 18-month-old daughter, Winter Rayo. The conditions of Kelly Richardson’s release, including whether she … Read more
Santa Clara County’s child welfare agency is once again mired in a contentious blame game, as social workers say department leaders are scapegoating an attorney for a controversial practice that the county recently abandoned: inviting parents to attend child abuse interviews, even when the parent is the one suspected of abuse. The attorney, Bhavit Madhvani, … Read more
SAN JOSE — On the last day of David Castro’s preliminary hearing Thursday, when the judge ruled there was enough evidence for him to stand trial, the prosecutor made it clear that Castro wasn’t being charged with murder in the fentanyl overdose death of his infant daughter, Phoenix. Instead, Castro is facing a felony child … Read more
SAN JOSE — A defense lawyer suggested in court Wednesday that David Castro’s infant daughter Phoenix died of accidental smothering while sleeping on the couch with her father, not from a fentanyl overdose. But a Santa Clara County coroner who conducted the autopsy and found methamphetamine and fentanyl in the 3-month-old baby’s system vehemently disagreed. … Read more
SAN JOSE – Baby Phoenix Castro’s grandmother wiped away tears on the witness stand Tuesday as she described the chaotic morning when her daughter ran out of the apartment screaming “My baby’s dead!” Rita De La Cerda rushed in after, she testified, and found her 3-month-old granddaughter lying lifeless on the couch while the baby’s … Read more
The number of at-risk children removed from their homes in Santa Clara County has soared in recent months, a dramatic shift for the county’s child welfare agency that came under intense scrutiny after a baby left in her father’s care died of a fentanyl overdose. The new numbers were released by the county’s Department of … Read more
SAN JOSE — In a packed and passion-fueled special hearing Tuesday over the fentanyl death of a 3-month-old, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Susan Ellenberg made one thing clear from the start: There is “no doubt that our system failed baby Phoenix.” Over the next four hours, the county’s child welfare leaders and … Read more
Just two days after 23-month-old Kristofer Ferreyra died of a suspected fentanyl overdose, an Alameda County social worker recommended keeping his three young siblings in the care of his mother, despite police having just found tin foil, baggies and other drug paraphernalia in their house. In fact, for reasons that remain unclear, Kristofer’s death wasn’t … Read more