A trial date was set Monday for a Santa Rosa couple charged in the death of their 15-month-old daughter who died last year after she was exposed to the deadly narcotic fentanyl.
Evan Frostick, 27, and Madison Bernard, 24, appeared in Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa, where their jury trial was set for Jan. 26, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.
Frostick and Bernard are each charged with murder and child endangerment following the death of their child, Charlotte, on May 9, 2022.
In April, they attended a preliminary hearing that ended with a judge ordering them to stand trial.
They are being held at the Sonoma County jail without bail.
Charlotte died from “acute fentanyl intoxication,” according to an autopsy report released by the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office.
An investigation began May 9 after Bernard contacted authorities to report her child was unresponsive at their apartment on Sonoma Avenue.
Investigators have said they discovered evidence of fentanyl on the bed where the family slept.
During the preliminary hearing, investigators testified that both Frostick and Bernard admitted to using fentanyl and that Frostick had purchased the opioid at least as far back as March 2020.
About 2.7 grams of the drug were found in the apartment following Charlotte’s death, according to court testimony.
Experts maintain fentanyl’s toxicity makes it 100 times more powerful than morphine. They say that even a trace amount of it can be deadly.
Bernard and Frostick were arrested the same day their daughter died, but authorities released them days later pending further investigation into Charlotte’s cause of death.
The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against the pair on Aug. 4, 2022.
Tags: Arrests Child Death Children Exposed Fentanyl Overdoses
