Fentanyl found in Santa Rosa home after death of baby girl
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - An apartment complex just feet from the Santa Rosa Police Department was where officers found the lifeless body of 15-month-old Charlotte Krostick, her home filled with signs of fentanyl use, police say.
"We found it strewn throughout the bedroom as well as on the bed where the child was sleeping," Santa Rosa police Sgt. Christopher Mahurin said Tuesday, the first-ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day.
Officers were called to the home at about 10:40 a.m. Monday by the girl's mother, who was hysterical, Mahurin said.
"Our officers were the first on scene, checked the baby for vitals and realized the child was 15 months and not responsive," Mahurin said.
Charlotte died at a hospital. The cause of her death remains under investigation.
"Right now we’re not 100% sure if it was the exposure which is actually the cause of death at this point," Mahurin said. "The Sonoma County sheriff’s department is going to be doing through their coroner’s office a medical examination as well as a toxicology report to determine the actual cause of death."
Police say they found about 2.5 to 3 grams of fentanyl, both packaged and unpackaged, as well as fentanyl paraphernalia at the apartment.
The girl's father, Evan Frostick, 26, and mother, Madison Bernard, 23, were arrested. They are being held at Sonoma County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail for child endangerment in connection to the death of their daughter.
"Both of the parents in this case were actually arrested for felony child cruelty that could cause death because they had drugs the child had access to," Mahurin said.
Charlotte's grandmother told KTVU it was "still way too painful" to discuss the girl's death but said, "We definitely need to bring awareness."
Neighbors were shocked.
Johnie Kosta said, "Sad. It’s literally a tragic story. You never would have thought."
"With children around, to keep them safe too. We recognize that people are in the throes of addiction and how devastating this is to a parent," said Sara Brewer, executive director of Face 2 Face, located just a block from where the couple lives. The organization provides fentanyl test strips, Narcan and sterile needles.
"We’re here to help you in a way that you’re ready to help yourself. Regardless of who you are, where you are, what’s going on. No judgment," Brewer said.
The Sonoma County District Attorney's office will review the case.
This case bears similarities to the fentanyl-related deaths in Santa Rosa of a father and his 13-month-old son back in 2019. Several people were convicted by federal prosecutors in that case.