EVERETT — A 1-year-old girl’s death “may be due to fentanyl exposure” at an Everett hotel, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office reported Wednesday.
Around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, the mother brought her child to Swedish hospital in Mill Creek after the 1-year-old became “unresponsive,” police say. The child was then transported to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she later died, sheriff’s spokesperson Courtney O’Keefe said.
The mother and child were reportedly living in the Everett hotel in the 8400 block of Evergreen Way, O’Keefe said. Investigators suspect someone had been smoking fentanyl in the room, leading to the child becoming unresponsive due to the exposure.
The mother, 37, was arrested Sunday for a domestic violence warrant in an unrelated matter from the Edmonds Police Department.
Detectives served a search warrant on the hotel room to collect evidence. It remained an active investigation Wednesday.
Toxicology tests were pending.
The official cause and manner of death were expected to be determined by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office.
In 2022, 10 people under the age of 19 overdosed from fentanyl in Snohomish County, a 60% increase since 2020, according to the medical examiner’s office.
In January, state lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 5010, to update child endangerment laws to include exposing adolescents to fentanyl, but the bill did not get out of Senate and House committees. The current law, RCW 9A.42.100, went into effect in 2002 and only includes exposure to methamphetamine and its ingredients. Violating that law is a felony.
Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon
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