BOSTON – A Massachusetts mother is facing manslaughter and other charges after authorities say her 4-year-old daughter died from fentanyl.
Dayanna Familia, 35, was arraigned Monday on charges including manslaughter, drug possession, destruction of evidence, reckless endangerment of a child and intimidation of a witness, juror, police officer or court official.
According to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office, 4-year-old Liyanna Bautista Familia died after ingesting fentanyl.
Boston police said officers responded to a call reporting an unknown problem in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood on Aug. 17. Officers found the child unresponsive and began administering CPR. She was taken to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
A postmortem examination determined the child died from acute fentanyl intoxication, police said.
Familia was arrested Oct. 24, in Dedham by members of the Boston Police Fugitive Unit on an outstanding warrant. She pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Monday and was ordered held on $250,000 bail pending her next court date.
Thousands of children have been among the victims of the nation’s opioid crisis. Emily’s Hope has reported on multiple other cases involving young children and fentanyl, including a New York daycare case and a California mother charged with murder in the deaths of her 3-year-old twins.
