ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Lehigh Valley mom was in court Wednesday, facing arraignment over the death of her 22-month-old son.
Prosecutors say the boy died from ingesting fentanyl while in the care of his father.
On a Monday morning during the first week of April 2021, Jayleen Rivas-Rodriguez left her apartment on North 8th Street. Prosecutors allege she and her partner, Jorge Suarez-Santiago, had both used heroin hours before. The father, who prosecutors say was intoxicated, was left at home with the toddler.
"And his mother finds him deceased and a neighbor actually takes him to the local hospital where he is, unfortunately, clearly deceased by the time he gets to the hospital. So that is a, truly an innocent victim," said Lehigh County Prosecutor Gavin Holihan.
Over the course of a three-year investigation, detectives learned that the couple's 22-month-old son, Johansy, was exposed to, and ingested, a lethal dose of fentanyl. Prosecutors had to wait for the toxicology reports, and other tests, before both parents could be charged with murder in connection to their son's death.
"Johansy is one of the truly most innocent victims of the opioid epidemic," Holihan said.
The boy's mother was arraigned Wednesday at the Lehigh County Court. Detective Joseph Biner of the Special Victims Unit says a warrant has been issued for the boy's father, who has moved to Wisconsin since his son's death.
"The family was very distraught about it. Informing the immediate family, Johany's grandmother, etc. So hopefully to provide some relief, closure," said Detective Beiner.
