In Seattle, 39-year-old Divina Tanggalan was arrested after the death of her one-year-old son. Preliminary autopsy results showed fentanyl in the child’s blood and urine. The woman was charged with endangering safety in a domestic-violence incident and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm; police are also investigating possible manslaughter.
Emergency services arrived at an apartment in the Atlantic neighborhood around 12:30 p.m. Sunday after receiving a report that a baby was not breathing and may have ingested fentanyl. Atlantic is located southeast of downtown Seattle, between the Mount Baker, Leschi and Central District neighborhoods. It is primarily residential, with single-family homes, small apartment buildings and local streets, unlike the city’s more commercial and tourist-oriented areas.
According to court documents, the mother told firefighters that she kept drugs in the home and that the child may have gotten access to them. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. Officers who arrived at the scene noticed that the woman appeared intoxicated; she said, “This is all my fault.”
Tanggalan said she struggled with drug addiction and usually kept fentanyl in a locked container on a high shelf in the bathroom so the children could not reach it. According to her account, she fell asleep on the couch around 11 a.m. while holding her son and woke to find him limp and not breathing. The bathroom door was open, but the woman could not explain how the children might have reached the drugs and did not say where they were. Her two-year-old daughter was placed with relatives.
Police believe the mother was the only adult who could have been responsible for the children’s safety at the time of the incident. A .22-caliber handgun was also found in the bathroom, despite Tanggalan’s criminal record. She is also known as Nakia Cunningham.
The medical examiner noted that the available information could be consistent not only with fentanyl exposure but also with sudden infant death syndrome or accidental suffocation during sleep. In Washington state, law enforcement agencies investigate the circumstances in such cases, while the county medical examiner or coroner conducts an autopsy, toxicology screening and other examinations. Specialists review medical records, inspect the scene of the death and interview parents, guardians and witnesses; child-protection services may join the investigation if necessary.
A final determination may be delayed until all test results are available. The medical examiner then establishes the cause and manner of death—natural, accidental, undetermined or related to violence. A preliminary test alone is generally insufficient for a final conclusion or criminal charge. Toxicology testing must determine the precise amount of fentanyl present, after which prosecutors can decide whether to take additional action.
Based on: Seattle mother arrested after baby dies, tests positive for fentanyl