For the second time in 2023, a Fayetteville mother is jailed in fentanyl death of her child

A Fayetteville mother was arrested Monday in the January death of her infant son after a medical examination, finalized in November, determined the child died from exposure to fentanyl, according to court records.

Sarah Jordin Faulkner, 29, is charged with second-degree murder and negligent child abuse inflicting serious injury in the death of her 9-month-old son, Jameson Lee Hurt, the Fayetteville Police Department charging document said.

The death certificate lists the child’s cause of death as "fentanyl toxicity in the setting of unsafe sleep," at the family's Hicks Avenue home. The document states that the exposure to fentanyl happened on Jan. 4 as the child was "sharing (a) sleep surface with adults."

During Faulkner's first appearance before a judge Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Rob Thompson said the boy was left in the bed for 12 hours before authorities were called.

According to the arrest warrant, Faulkner is accused of second-degree murder "based on an inherently dangerous act or omission, done in such a reckless and wanton manner as to manifest a mind utterly without regard for human life."

The document states the negligent child abuse charge is based on Faulkner's alleged "reckless disregard for human life and by committing a grossly negligent omission in failing to prevent exposure to an illicit and deadly controlled substance which caused the death of JH."

Faulkner is the second Fayetteville mother charged in 2023 with second-degree murder after a child died from fentanyl exposure. In June, Tiana Ronaleigh Johnson, 28, was arrested in the Jan. 22 fentanyl death of her 1-year-old daughter.

Faulkner is being held in the Cumberland County jail without bail.

Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Sarah Faulkner charged in January death of her child