A 30-year-old Irvine mother was charged with felony child abuse and endangerment Jan. 11 after her 2-year-old son was hospitalized from fentanyl exposure, according to authorities.
Jacqueline Hunter was also charged with two misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, and one felony enhancement of causing great bodily injury to a child under the age 5.
She pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Wednesday in Santa Ana. Her bail was set at $30,000, which has not posted as of Jan. 13, an Orange County District Attorney’s office spokesperson told The Epoch Times.
The incident occurred Jan. 9, when the child stopped breathing after returning home from a doctors’ appointment for a broken leg, according to the DA’s office. The child’s father gave him CPR until paramedics arrived, authorities reported.
At the hospital, the toddler tested positive for fentanyl, authorities said, prompting a search warrant of the Hunters’s home in Irvine which uncovered a baggie of fentanyl and Xanax pills.
The mother is suspected of possessing the drugs without her husband’s knowledge and allowing the baby to access them, according to the DA’s office.
Hunter didn’t disclose she had fentanyl in her home when paramedics arrived, the DA’s office reported. After law enforcement discovered the illicit drugs, she admitted to being in possession of them, a DA’s office spokesperson said.
“A parent’s only job is to protect their children from harm and because of a selfish decision by his mother, this baby is fighting to survive,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a Jan. 12 statement.
“We all know how deadly fentanyl is and for a mother to refuse to provide information to paramedics to help save her child is beyond unbelievable.”
Hunter now faces a maximum sentence of 12 years in state prison if convicted on all counts.
She is scheduled to return to court Jan. 20 for a pretrial hearing at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.
