Mom Jailed Over Fentanyl Death of 12-Year-Old Daughter

A mother from Colorado was sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in prison after her 12-year-old daughter overdosed on fentanyl.

Weld County District Court Judge Vincente Vigil sentenced 32-year-old Mystique Sade Wadena on Friday, August 30, according to a statement from the district attorney.

Wadena pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse resulting in death. Her daughter died of a fentanyl overdose, according to the prosecutor’s statement.

On May 2, 2022, emergency services responded to a call from a hotel room in Firestone north of Denver. According to the statement, police determined that Wadena was using and selling fentanyl from that room. Her three children were not in her custody at the time but she arranged for them to come visit her at the hotel.

During their time with Wadena, two of them took some of the pills their mom had there, the investigation found. When the emergency services arrived, they found the 12-year-old girl unresponsive. She died five days later “of complications related to acute fentanyl toxicity,” the district attorney’s statement says.

The other child survived. Wadena was arrested on September 28, 2022.

“The severity of the defendant’s choices, and the impact this has had on not only her family and other children, but quite frankly the rest of our community, is simply devastating,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wrenn said during Friday morning’s sentencing hearing, according to the press release.

“No amount of time in prison will bring this child back, but we do believe this is an appropriate sentence. We hope this sends a message to our community that this type of negligent behavior won’t be tolerated in Weld County,” he added.

Cases of children overdosing on fentanyl are not uncommon. Last week, a mother from South Carolina was charged with homicide by child abuse after her 10-month-old daughter died after ingesting fentanyl, People reported. The police reportedly say they found bank notes with powder substance on them and traces of fentanyl on the baby’s bottles and other items.

In an unrelated case, a father has filed a lawsuit against the child protective services, alleging his 17-month-old toddler died in Los Angeles County during a supervised visit with his mother The father’s lawyer told the outlet that the LA County worker reportedly left with her own children and the deceased toddler’s siblings.

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