A California woman has reportedly been arrested in relation to the fentanyl death of her 1-year-old child in 2023.
Christy Scarbrough, 40, was arrested on May 30 and is facing charges for child abuse with possible great bodily injury or death and abuse resulting in death, according to the Chico Police Department. Police said the infant was able to access fentanyl “because it was left unattended next to the area where they would sleep,” Fox40 reported Wednesday.
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Officers responded to the Enloe Hospital in Chico for the death of the infant on June 6, 2023. Once they arrived, the learned the child was taken to the hospital by their mother, identified as Scarbrough, according to the report.
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office and Chico Police Department investigated Scarbrough’s home and found fentanyl drug paraphernalia next to the child’s bed, the report stated.
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Law enforcement interviewed family members and collected more evidence before ultimately concluding the child died of “acute fentanyl intoxication,” according to the report.
“Detectives obtained additional evidence indicating Scarbrough was using fentanyl before and after the infant’s death,” Chico police said.
Scarbrough was booked into a jail in Butte County, police said.