A growing number of parents across the U.S. are being criminally charged with murder or manslaughter after their children die from exposure to fentanyl.
FILE - In this photo released by the Santa Rosa Police Department, investigators collect evidence from the home of Evan Frostick and Madison Bernard, the parents of a 15-month-old toddler found unresponsive in a bedroom in Santa Rosa, Calif., on May 9, 2022. They are part of a growing number of parents across the U.S. prosecutors have charged in the fentanyl overdose deaths of their children since the pandemic started.
Some 20 states have so-called “drug-induced homicide” laws, which allow prosecutors to press murder or manslaughter charges against anyone who supplies or exposes a person to drugs causing a fatal overdose. The laws are intended to target drug dealers. The debate comes as the country battles with how to effectively diminish the use of the highly accessible and extremely deadly drug.
"This is really a first in the history of our country because we have a drug on the streets that can potentially kill you instantly with a minor amount of product,” Smith said. States such as Maryland that don’t have “drug-induced homicide” laws often charge parents with manslaughter, Smith said.Prosecutors in Riverside, Sonoma and Stanislaus counties have charged parents with murder based on the “Watson advisement," a formal statement signed by anyone convicted of a DUI charge who says they understand driving under the influence can injure or kill people. The statement can be used against them if they cause another fatal, DUI-related crash.
The girl’s paternal grandmother also said in court documents that Waite used drugs while she was pregnant.
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