Baby’s parents charged with murder after she died from fentanyl poisoning in Colorado
A baby died of fentanyl poisoning nearly a year ago, and now her parents face drug trafficking and first-degree murder charges, according to Colorado authorities.
Alonzo Montoya and Nicole Casias, both 31, are accused of running a fentanyl ring out of the apartment where nearly 2-year-old Aviyana was exposed to fentanyl and died, the indictment says. A grand jury accused the parents of participating in a drug-trafficking enterprise “before, during, and after” their daughter’s death, District Attorney Brian Mason announced in a Sept. 22 news release.
The pair first faced child abuse charges related to the death, which were dismissed in light of the grand jury indictment, according to the news release. Montoya and Casias are in custody in Adams County.
The seven new charges filed against Montoya and Casias include “knowing and reckless child abuse” stemming from when they allegedly manufactured or attempted to manufacture a controlled substance in the presence of a child, as well as child abuse resulting in death, the indictment says.
According to the indictment, the parents “established, operated, and maintained a criminal enterprise,” as their primary source of income. “A distinguishing feature of the criminal enterprise was the extremely dangerous manner in which Montoya and Casias conducted the drug trafficking activity,” authorities said.
They “operated this criminal enterprise with full knowledge and awareness of the hazardous toxicity of the illegal controlled substances that they were distributing and of the extreme risk of serious harm and/or death to others, including their minor children, from exposure to these hazardous controlled substances,” and did so often, the indictment says.
Prosecutors say the couple started the drug enterprise the day before Aviyana died. They obtained a “large quantity of illegal substances,” including fentanyl, and brought it into the home where they lived with their two children.
They’re also accused of allowing “the associates and customers of the criminal enterprise to use and/or ingest dangerous controlled substances, including Fentanyl, while inside” their home, often while the children were nearby and often directly exposing the kids to the hazards of using fentanyl, the indictment says.
According to the Denver Post, the couple called for help on Jan. 2 after their 23-month-old stopped breathing First responders tried to revive Aviyana, but she was pronounced dead, the outlet reported.
Aviyana’s blood “contained 10 times the amount of fentanyl necessary to kill an intolerant adult user,” the outlet wrote, based on the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office statement in a March news release.
This story was originally published September 23, 2022 at 9:05 AM with the headline "Baby’s parents charged with murder after she died from fentanyl poisoning in Colorado."
