A Massachusetts mother faced a judge after authorities say that her young daughter died from ingesting a drug.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, 35-year-old Dayanna Familia of Boston was arraigned in Dorchester BMC on Monday on Manslaughter and other charges in connection to the death of her four-year-old daughter, Liyanna Bautista Familia, on August 18th.
The DA stated that Liyanna Familia died as a result of ingesting fentanyl.
Dayanna Familia was arrested over the weekend by the Boston Police Fugitive Unit.
According to Boston Police, at approximately 8:51 p.m., on Monday August 17th, officers assigned to District B-3 (Mattapan) responded to a radio call for an unknown problem in the area of 200 Fuller Street in Dorchester.
Upon arrival, officers observed the unresponsive 4-year-old victim. Officers began administering CPR and the victim was transported to a local hospital where she was later pronounced deceased.
Following the postmortem autopsy, the victim’s death was determined to have been caused by acute fentanyl intoxication.
Familia was taken into custody by way of an outstanding arrest warrant issued out of Dorchester District Court for charges of Manslaughter, Possession of Class A Drugs, Destruction of Evidence, and Intentionally Misleading an Investigator in a Criminal Investigation.
Court records show that at arraignment, Familia pled not guilty and was held on $250,000 cash bail with a probable cause hearing scheduled for November 20th.
Boston 25 News is reporting that Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Allyson Portney told the court that Familia allegedly lied to emergency responders. She reportedly claimed her daughter turned blue while drinking milk and suggested the child may have gotten into a roach trap.
“Despite knowing the child’s actual cause of her medical issue, she misled officers and EMS and in doing so, she impeded the life-saving techniques and medical procedures that EMS was trying to perform to save her daughter’s life,” Portney said.
Prosecutors said body camera footage allegedly shows Familia attempting to destroy evidence, including a white powder believed to be fentanyl. Because of the false information she provided, critical life-saving efforts for her daughter were delayed. Police later recovered fentanyl inside the residence.
According to a GoFundMe fundraiser created for funeral expenses before the arrest, “Liyanna was such a beautiful little girl with so much life ahead of her. At only four years old, she should be spending her days playing, laughing, learning, and simply enjoying being a little girl.”
