A drug dealer in South Florida has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after distributing fentanyl that led to the overdose death of a baby in 2022, NBC6 reported this week.
Darnell Mendez, 36, was sentenced Tuesday and will have five years of supervised released in addition to his prison sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Both Mendez and his girlfriend, Samantha Yi, pled guilty in the case. Yi is facing at least 20 years in prison, with her sentencing scheduled for Jan. 9, the report states.
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies had responded to a 911 call on March 31, 2022, for an infant in distress. When they got to the scene, they found a 10-month-old who had ingested fentanyl.
The baby taken to a Boynton Beach hospital and then transferred to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood. She died days later on April 5, 2022.
An autopsy revealed that the baby’s cause of death was fentanyl intoxication. The medical examiner ruled the baby’s death a homicide, according to the report.
The baby’s parents were drug addicts who abused fentanyl regularly in their apartment, authorities said. Investigators found fentanyl when searching the apartment.
“It was also learned that the baby was teething and had ingested the fentanyl while in the care of her mother and while her father was at work,” according to the report. “The mother was arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child by culpable negligence.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration worked with authorities to identify the dealers who sold the fentanyl that caused the baby’s death.
Investigators identified Yi as a dealer upon examining months of electronic communications about drug transactions between Yi and the baby’s mother, according to the report.
Investigators further found that the baby’s mother bought fentanyl from Yi on March 30 — the day before the baby ingested it, authorities said.
Officials said investigators found that Mendez was also involved in the distribution of fentanyl. An undercover operation ultimately led to the arrest of Yi and Mendez at their home in Lake Worth in March, the report states.
Officials said they had 14 firearms in their home at the time of their arrests, despite being convicted felons.
Authorities said Mendez has a long rap sheet, including a history of controlled substance and violence crime offenses, and may qualify as a career criminal.