(KRON) — A father in California has been charged in the fatal opioid overdose of his baby daughter, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday. The three-month old baby’s body was found in an apartment “littered with opioids,” according to the DA.
An autopsy showed that the baby, whose name was Phoenix, died from ingesting methamphetamine and fentanyl.
The baby’s father, 38-year-old David Anthony Castro, was charged with felony child neglect and possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor. Castro is scheduled to be arraigned Monday at 1:30 p.m. in Department 43 of the Hall of Justice in San Jose.
If convicted, he faces time in prison.
“I can’t fathom how a parent could recklessly cause the death of their own child,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “What I fully understand is our responsibility to hold that person accountable for this heartbreaking tragedy.”
Officers with the San Jose Police Department responded on May 13, 2023 to a home on Spinnaker Walkway and found Phoenix unconscious. Fentanyl, broken glass pipes and aluminum foil were found littering the apartment’s kitchen area, police said.
Officers also located a baby bottle filled with liquid next to the glass pipes on the kitchen counter. Police also found Narcan, a drug used to revive people from fentanyl overdoses.
Phoenix was later pronounced dead. The infant’s mother was not at home when the baby died. The mother also died of an overdose last month.