Toddler's death result of fentanyl intoxication, 2 charged including girl's mother
Sep. 1—Two Sanford women were arrested Wednesday in connection with a 3-year-old girl's death from fentanyl intoxication, according to the Sanford Police Department.
Jasmyne Elayne Bethea, 29, the child's mother, and her roommate, Janell Joyce Smith, 27, both of the 1000 block of Battle Street, are charged with second-degree murder.
Police began their investigation April 2 when officers received a call and responded to Central Carolina Hospital to investigate the girl's death, according to Sanford police Maj. Vinnie Frazer.
An autopsy revealed that the little girl's cause of death was fentanyl intoxication, according to the release.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid painkiller that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
"As little as two milligrams, about the size of 5 grains of salt, can cause negative health effects including trouble breathing dizziness and possible overdose," according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Fentanyl exposure can happen by skin contact, inhalation, ingestion, contact with a mucous membrane, such as the eyes and nose, and through a needle stick, the DHHS reported.
It has not been precisely determined how the child was exposed to the opioid painkiller, Frazer said.
Bail was set at $250,000 each, he said.
