Jun. 10—Prosecutors allege that an Albuquerque couple contributed to the death of their infant son by using fentanyl and other illegal drugs in their home, where the child was found dead last week, court records show.
The 4-month-old boy was under the supervision of the state Children Youth and Families Department at the time of his death because he had been exposed to illegal drugs when he was born, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
Gabriella Muniz, 27, and Victor Gonzales, 46, are each charged with one felony count of child abuse resulting in death, court records show. The child is identified by the initials “C.M.” in court records.
A judge on Tuesday ordered Gonzales held in custody while awaiting trial, a spokeswoman for the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office said. Muniz’s detention hearing was set for Friday.
It was unclear if Muniz or Gonzales are represented by an attorney.
On June 3, two days before the child’s death, a CYFD worker requested a welfare check for the child “due to no contact with C.M. and the family,” the complaint said. The complaint states that C.M. was on a CYFD safety plan at the time due to being exposed to drugs previously.
It is unclear in the complaint if the welfare check was done.
A CYFD spokeswoman did not immediately respond Tuesday to phone and email requests seeking comment.
Bernalillo County deputies on June 5 were dispatched to the couple’s home in the 100 block of Sarah NW for reports of a child “not conscious and not breathing,” according to a criminal complaint. C.M. was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 4 p.m.
Gonzales told deputies that he had taken the day off work because the boy was “teething and was fussy,” the complaint said. Gonzales said he and Muniz fell asleep on a bed with the child lying between them.
Gonzales said the baby was unresponsive when he woke up about two hours later, the complaint said.
“The CYFD referral reported that the mother, Gabriella Muniz, had used methamphetamine and fentanyl the day before C.M. was born” on Jan. 28, the complaint said. Muniz told deputies that she had used methamphetamine and fentanyl while she was pregnant, it said.
Muniz also told deputies that she primarily used methamphetamine and had last used the drug the day before the child’s death, the complaint said. Muniz told deputies that she never used the drug in her home.
Deputies searched the home and found what they believed was powdered fentanyl and heroin loaded in a syringe, the complaint said.
Prosecutors alleged in a pretrial detention motion that Muniz and Gonzales “knowingly, intentionally, or negligently placed four-month-old CM in a situation that resulted in CM’s death.”
The investigation found that the couple “used drugs in the household, with fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin found in the home,” prosecutors wrote.