A 2-year-old Spanaway girl died from a fentanyl overdose. Her father has been charged
Pierce County prosecutors have charged a Spanaway man whose daughter was found dead on Saturday after she overdosed on fentanyl.
Evan Jawn Hodge, 33, was arrested on Monday. He is facing a first-degree manslaughter charge. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf at his arraignment on Wednesday. Hodge was booked into Pierce County Jail and is being held on $1 million bail.
According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, Hodge made a call at 4:22 a.m. on Saturday that his daughter was dead. Hodge said he fell asleep with his daughter and woke up at around 4:20 a.m. to her not breathing. When deputies and paramedics arrived at their mobile home, the girl was pronounced dead at the scene.
A declaration for determination of probable cause document said that Hodge denied taking any drugs when he spoke to officers on Sunday. He said he tried to give his daughter CPR but was not sure how to before he called 911. On the 911 call, Hodge allegedly asked the dispatcher what was going to happen to him.
When detectives spoke to the medical examiner on Monday, she advised that “the amount of pills was among the most she had seen in a child.” She estimated the child consumed the pills in the previous 24 hours prior to her death, the probable cause document said
Detectives went back to the mobile home and found items such as a drug scale, two Narcan labeled vials and a drug pipe. Without prompting, Hodge allegedly said there was fentanyl in his backpack. Detectives located suspected fentanyl and other drug paraphernalia, prosecutors wrote.
Hodge shared custody of his daughter with her mother. The mother told detectives that their daughter would spend one week with her and one week with him. She said she allowed their daughter to stay with him because she thought he was clean and sober, court documents show.
Court documents say that Hodge initially stated he was clean for “a year or two,” then said he’d been clean for nine months before finally saying that he smoked meth or heroin the night he picked up his daughter.
Hodge allegedly said he kept his drugs in a container in his backpack. Contrary to what he told 911 dispatchers, Hodge allegedly told detectives he did not perform CPR on his daughter because he believed she was already dead.
According to court records, Hodge does not have any prior convictions. His pretrial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18 at 1:30 p.m.
