San Jose parents appear in court after fentanyl kills baby

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A San Jose mother and father were in court on Monday facing murder charges after their 18-month-old daughter was poisoned by fentanyl.

Derek Vaughn Rayo, 27, and Kelly Gene Richardson, 28, are the first parents in Santa Clara County’s history to be charged with murdering their own child with drugs.

The victim, named Winter, is referred to as “Baby W. Doe” in court documents. She had 15 times the lethal amount of fentanyl in her blood when she died. “Think of W. Doe … this innocent child and her sad and stolen life,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “This is not a law enforcement official overreacting to an illegal substance.”

In the courtroom, Richardson frequently glanced over her shoulder at Rayo attempting to make eye-contact. Rayo avoided his girlfriend’s gaze. The couple did not enter pleas and the judge ordered them to remain in jail with no bail.

On August 12, Rayo and his girlfriend found Winter dead and they waited more than 10 hours before calling 911, according to police.

Rayo called 911 just before midnight reporting their his daughter was not breathing inside their home at 1550 Huddersfield Court, investigators said.

Paramedics arrived at the home before police. Paramedics “located the victim laying on a bed in the master bedroom of the residence covered with a rug. It appeared that the victim had been deceased for approximately 12 hours,” San Jose Police Department Det. Christina Jize wrote.

The mother told police that she had gone to bed at 2 a.m. on August 12 with her baby and her boyfriend. When Richardson and her boyfriend woke up, they noticed Winter was not breathing, her lips were blue, and she appeared to be dead.

“Blood samples taken from both Derek Rayo and Kelly Richardson from the day of the victim’s death showed both were positive for fentanyl,” Jize wrote.

“Both Derek Rayo and Kelly Richardson admitted to not calling 911 for approximately 10 hours because they were in denial and wanted to grieve together before police arrived to separate them,” Jize wrote.

During a search of the bedroom, investigators said they found fentanyl residue on a nightstand and desk. More fentanyl was found on a scraping tool left on a rug underneath the baby’s body, Jize wrote.

A coroner detected a fentanyl blood concentration of 74 ng/mL in Winter’s body. Blood concentrations as low as 5 ng/mL can cause death.

Investigators said they found photographs and videos of Rayo smoking narcotics near his baby inside 1550 Huddersfield Court.

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In addition to the images, “homicide detectives seized multiple electronic devices belonging to the couple. On them were text messages and social media messages showing evidence of narcotic use at the house when the child was present,” the DA’s Office wrote.

Other text messages and social media messages revealed that Richardson and some of the housemates had previously expressed concerns about using drugs around the baby, according to prosecutors.

District Attorney Rosen said, “Fentanyl will kill you as easily as a bullet. It is killing the children of our community.”

If convicted, Rayo and Richardson will face 15 years to life in prison.

In December of 2021, Rayo posted photographs of his newborn baby in a hospital delivery room. He captioned the photos, “Best thing to ever happen to me. I love you Kelly Richardson. Thank you for bringing Winter Rose Rayo into this world. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner. Let’s do this thing!”

Three months before Winter died, another extremely young victim was fatally poisoned by fentanyl in San Jose. The infant, identified as “Baby Phoenix” in court documents, was only three months old when she died on May 13. Her home was littered with illicit drugs, investigators said.

Phoenix’s father, 38-year-old David Anthony Castro, called 911 at 10:08 a.m. on May 13 reporting that his baby was not breathing inside their apartment at 5479 Spinnaker Walkway. The baby’s mother was not home.

In July, Phoenix’s mother and father were informed by the coroner’s office that fentanyl caused their daughter’s death. The mother, Emily De La Creda, died from a fentanyl overdose two months later.

Even after his girlfriend and infant daughter both died inside his home, Castro’s drug activities continued, the DA’s Office said. “Despite both his baby’s and (De La Creda’s) death from overdose, defendant still did not alter his behavior or home environment. When SJPD arrested the defendant for Phoenix’s death on October 19, 2023 more drugs and paraphernalia were located inside the home,” prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors charged Castro with felony endangering or injuring the health of a child, and a special allegation of corporal injury of a child resulting in death.

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