Mother Locked Up After Toddler Dies from Fentanyl Overdose

A mother was sentenced to serve years. behind bars after her toddler died from. a deadly fentanyl overdose. And this. shines a harsh light on the growing. opioid crisis and its devastating impact. on families. Nearly 2 years after the. tragedy, the court heard how addiction. and neglect led to such a heartbreaking. loss. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by. Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. A Vancouver, Washington mother has been. sentenced to several years in prison. nearly two years after her daughter died.

from a tragic fentinol overdose. You. heard me right. Standing before Clark. County Superior Court Judge Robert. Lewis, 39-year-old Katherine Richards, awaited her fate. In April, a jury had. found her guilty of firstdegree. manslaughter in the March 2024 death of. her toddler, 21 months old. And we're. going to get to the sentence in a little. bit, but first, here's how all this. began. So, the nightmare unfolded on. March 26, 2024 when Vancouver police. responded to a report of an unresponsive.

toddler. According to a probable cause. affidavit, Katherine Richards told. officers she had put her daughter down. for a nap at around 300 p.m. and found. her lifeless 5 hours later. Now, the. affidavit, which was reviewed by. multiple outlets, states, quote, "Catherine placed RJR on her stomach. inside of her crib, as RJR typically. slept with her knees tucked up. underneath her. While napping, Catherine. checked on RJR using a baby monitor. When Catherine physically checked on RJR. at about 20, 30 hours, she discovered.

her to be unresponsive and called 911. Now, paramedics, they pronounced this. child dead within an hour. And at first. there were no obvious signs of trauma or. anything like that, but I will tell you. the home itself raised a lot of red. flags. The affidavit reads, quote, "The. residence was cluttered and unckempt. There was garbage strewn throughout, moldy food in various places and limited. free space on the floors, counters, and. furniture." And this is all something. that investigators noted. And in the.

basement, they found quote drug. paraphernalia that was positioned like. it was used recently. Such a sad case, such a disturbing case. And this is one. that we definitely wanted to shed light. on and bring to you. And I will tell. you, one of the reasons that we can do. this is because of the amazing support. that we get from our sponsors like. Upside. Now, if you don't know what it. is, Upside is great. It is a free app. that gets you cash back when you buy. daily essentials. So, I pump my gas, I. can use Upside. go out to lunch, I can.

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staying at her home, seemingly. suggesting it was that person who was. using drugs, but insisted it was. confined to the basement and that her. daughter never went near that area. But. unfortunately for her, toxicology. results told a very different story. The. affidavit reveals, quote, "On March. 28th, 2024, an autopsy was performed on. RJR. During the initial exam, a sample. of RJR's urine was collected and. presumptively tested for elicit drugs. RJR's urine was positive for fentanyl.

Further analysis was requested from NMS. labs. On April 11th, 2024, I learned RJR. was positive for fentanyl as well as. Nlloxxone, Narcan. And this was. concerning as Nlloxxone was not. administered by any first responders. According to the report, RJR's blood. contained 17 NGM ml of fentanyl and the. urine contained 18 NG/ML. And the. presence of Nlloxxone, an opioid.

overdose reversal drug, shocked. paramedics because first responders. hadn't administered it. So, it raised. serious questions about how it entered. the child's system. Now, before we go. any further, I want to bring on a. special guest. I want to bring on right. now Dr. Mark Labau, a boardcertified. toxicology expert and founder of. Forensic Toxicology Consulting. Thank. you so much for coming on. Really. appreciate you taking the time. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you for. having me, Jesse. >> We talk about fentanyl being a poison in.

adults, but in toddlers, um, how lethal. is it? What blood concentration levels. are typically fatal? What are we talking. about here? Well, it's incredibly fatal. as you you mentioned for for adults, but. when you're dealing with a child, a. toddler, such a minute amount that can. be um lethal to the to the child. And. there's no set magic number of a. concentration that has to be reached for. it to be lethal. I mean these are.

presumably individuals that have. developed no tolerance whatsoever to the. effects of the opioid drug which. fentanyl is and u you know it just a. minute amount can be lethal. >> So when we talk about a fentanyl level. of 17 ng/ml. in the blood does what does that tell. you about the amount and what does that. tell you also about the timing of the. exposure because I wonder how quickly it. could leave the system or it stays in. the system. >> Yeah. So 17 it's nanograms per.

milliliter. So it's it's an amount a. mass nanograms per amount of blood. milliliter. And uh what that means. essentially is that if if that were a an. adult that had that amount of fentanyl. in their blood and they were not a. chronic user of fentanyl, that would be. considered to be lethal on its own. So. um what does that mean as far as the the. timing? Well, we can't just look at the.

the the drug itself. We have to look at. the metabolites, what our body converts. that drug into. And a common uh. metabolite for fentanyl is what's known. as norfentanyl. And when you look at the. ratio of the parent drug, fentanyl, to. the amount of norfentyl, you start to. get an idea how quickly the death would. have occurred. Did the body um shut. down? Did did the individual die before. the body had a chance to fully convert. the fentanyl into norfentanyl?

>> How easy is it for a child to consume or. ingest fentinyl indirectly in a home. environment? >> Yeah, that that's really the problem is. that um a child, a toddler is, you know, crawling across the floor. They're. touching surfaces and putting their. hands in their mouth. They're they're. picking things up and eating them. without even knowing what it is. And so. it's in it's incredibly. uh easy to accidentally expose a child.

to fentanyl when you're in a home where. a parent or some other individual is. using a drug like fentanyl. >> and the presence of nlloxxone narcan in. the child's system. What does that. suggest to you again especially if first. responders weren't the one to administer. it? Yeah, exactly. You know, its. presence when it's not administered by. first responders, that's strongly. suggesting that someone in the household. recognized the signs of that opioid.

overdose and they tried to intervene. So, that does indicate that the. individual recognized that, gave the. nlloxxone as a means of trying to. overcome the overdose, but it also. indicates that most people don't have. nlloxxone in their house quite honestly. And to have that presence in the house. means there probably was a common risk. of an opioid overdose in their house. >> Is it possible it could have saved the. child if it administered a certain way.

or at a certain time? >> Absolutely. It's possible it could have. because nlloxxone what it does is it it. goes into the body and it blocks the. receptors that that opioids like. fentanyl would normally bind to and by. doing that it minimizes the effects and. kind of reverses the effects. So had it. been administered quickly, it's. certainly possible the child's life. could have been saved. >> And and it's possible that Nlloxxone. could be administered by a. nonprofessional. in a safe way. Is it is do you need.

specialized training in order to. administer it? >> Yeah. I mean it it really doesn't. require any specialized training. In. fact, that's one of the the means in. which we've tried to overcome the opioid. crisis here in the United States is more. widespread administration and access to. Nlloxxone so that people can quickly. administer this this antidote, if you. will, to the poison um in in instances. of an opioid overdose.

By the way, how reliable are urine tests. in order to detect fentanyl and. nlloxxone when you're dealing. post-mortem cases? So, somebody's. already died? >> Well, it's very reliable provided that. the laboratory has done their due. diligence of appropriately validating. their methods before they're using them. But today fentanyl and nlloxxone are so. commonly encountered that most forensic. toxicology laboratories and clinical.

laboratories have done that. They've. validated for those specific drugs and. and the other evidence of those drugs. with metabolite validation as well. >> Yeah, let me let me jump on that and I. apologize if we talked about this again. uh already, but I just want to clarify. How quickly does fentanyl metabolize in. the body and is that important when you. talk about the timing of toxicology in. investigations? >> Yeah, it it can be important. It does. metabolize relatively quickly in an.

adult, but there are so many factors. that go into it beginning with how. frequently you're exposed to the drug. and certain genetic makeups that can. impact the speed at which it's. metabolized. But in general, it's going. to be a relatively fast acting and then. quickly metabolized drug. The effects, they can last for an hour, maybe a. little bit more, but in general, the. individual is going to show the effects. a short time after they've been. administered the drug. Somewhat.

dependent on the means in which they're. they're uh exposed to it. Is it via. inhalation versus contact with the skin, oral ingestion? All of those will impact. how quickly the drug acts and then how. quickly uh the body is able to. metabolize the drug. >> Doctor, before we move on, I hate to ask. this question, but I have to. You know, we're living in this epidemic right now. of fentanyl, how scary is it for parents. out there if outside the home, so they.

don't even do it. They don't, nobody. they know is doing it. Uh but they're, you know, they go to parks, they go to. movie theaters, they go to stores, kids. are touching things. Should they be. concerned about exposure in those. environments and their kids putting. their fingers in their mouths or. whatever it might be or touching? How. concerned should parents be? >> I would say not overly concerned. Um the. reality is this. You know, generally. people that use drugs like fentanyl are.

going to do that in more of a private. setting. They don't want to be out there. advertising that they're using the drug. So, it tends to be in somebody's home or. maybe in a bathroom stall, you know, a. public park or something like that. And. as a parent, you just want to take your. normal precautions. You know, you don't. want to just send your child into a park. restroom all on their own and and you. want to make sure that they're washing. their hands and, you know, they're being. watched over. So, just common sense in a.

way should stop any uh real risk of. being exposed to drugs like this. So. when police returned weeks later on. April 25th, 2024 to confront Richards. with the toxicology findings and the. unexpected presence of Nlloxxone, her. reaction was telling. The affidavit. states, "When I told Catherine that RJR. died from a lethal overdose of fentanyl, she shook her head and replied, "I'm. bleeping careless." Now, Richards. initially blamed her house guest,

suggesting that the woman must have. accidentally dropped fentanyl on the. floor, and she denied using the drug. herself. However, the affidavit reveals. that the friend told police otherwise, that both women had been using fentanyl, and when questioned about the Narcan, Richards eventually decided to come. clean. The affidavit states, quote, "Next, I asked why RJR would be positive. for Narcan." Catherine admitted to. administering two doses, thinking it. could not hurt. When I asked Katherine. why she didn't tell any of the first. responders or dispatch, she said she.

thought she told the paramedics. According to the VFD patient care. record, there is no mention of Narcan. It is in fact stated that Katherine. denied RJR had any medical conditions or. had taken any medication. See, that's. the problem. So, when Richards made her. first court appearance, Richard's family. had pushed for no bail, believing that. she would be a flight risk. And in a. September 2024 hearing, a victim's. advocate relayed those fears. >> I wish my daughter no harm, but I. believe it deserves justice and that.

Katie is currently using and will kill. herself or run if you grant her bail. >> Now, Richard's attorney argued for. treatment rather than incarceration, urging the court to place her in a. facility where she could receive the. help that she needs. >> She really needs to get clean and sober, and but that's going to be something she. has to live with for the rest of her. life. I couldn't imagine that. I think. no jail would ever take that away from. her or any of that pain. >> So doctor, just to reiterate this point, is it common? Is it advisable for a. non-medical person to administer.

Nlloxxone in a suspected overdose, especially with a toddler, if time is of. the essence? I mean, what are the risks? Could her admission of giving Nlloxxone. without professional guidance, could. that have adversely affected the child's. condition? What is your take on that? >> No, I I would say the opposite. I I. think by not administering nlloxxone you. would actually increase the risk of. death. The nlloxxone is there to. actually block those receptors that.

fentanyl would normally bind to. So the. administration I think is perfectly. fine. Probably what happened is the. child was probably already deceased by. the time the lock may have been given. Um and therefore it wouldn't have had. any effect. But to be clear, I mean, she. should have told the truth. Um, so in. other words, it might not have affected. the care of or the treatment of the. child at that state um when first. responders arrived, but it would have. been important, you know, to record that. in an an emergency medical reports,

right? >> That that's true. I mean, you should al. always uh let first responders know what. intervention that you tried yourself, including anything that was. administered. Now, at uh Katherine Richard sentencing. on July 8th, Clark County Deputy. Prosecutor Nicole Meyer delivered a. stark assessment before Judge Robert. Lewis as reported by the Colombian. Meer. acknowledged that while Richards never. intended to kill her 21-month-old. daughter, her actions, her inactions.

warranted accountability. Meyer argued. that Richard's lack of intent, that. didn't absolve her from taking full. responsibility. Now, Richard's defense. attorney, Michelle Michaelick, urged the. court for a lighter sentence, highlighting her client's clean record, her overwhelming grief. She told the. court she's been punished the most. because she lost her daughter. She's. sick by it. And the Colombian also. reports that Richard spoke in court, too, expressing her sorrow, saying, "I. know nothing I do or amount of time I do. will bring my daughter back. I don't.

wish this on my worst enemy. Whatever. happens to me, nothing could hurt as. much as losing my daughter." Now, Judge. Lewis described the case as a tragedy. reflecting a growing societal problem. Expressed his condolences to Richards. before sentencing her to 7 and 12 years. in prison. At the end of the day, it is. a tragedy. It shouldn't have happened. There needs to be a sense of. accountability, but it is important to. note that she didn't intend for this to. happen and it's a really difficult. situation and I can understand why the. judge said that. But doctor, going back.

to you to finish this out, as we talk. about this case, I hope the answer is. that this is an outlier, that you've. never seen a case like this, but I'm. going to be guessing that unfortunately. you have seen cases like this. And I do. wonder if you're seeing a lot of these. kind of cases. >> Yeah, unfortunately, we see far too many. of these cases. You know, the reality is. parents that use fentanyl and other. drugs, they tend to lose their sense as.

far as the dangers of these drugs and. particularly around their children. So, it's unfortunate that particularly. toddlers, young babies get exposed to. these drugs accidentally and you know, they're so small compared to an adult. So, it doesn't take very much of an. exposure for it to cause problems like. this. So yeah, it's a sad state, but in. homes where drugs are consumed, many. times children are also exposed to those. drugs. >> Dr. Mark Leau, thank you so much for.

taking the time. Difficult case. Really, really appreciate your insight. Thank. you so much. >> Thank you. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time. [Music].