A Bonney Lake man has been arrested after his 15-month-old son died from acute fentanyl toxicity in March.
Prosecutors charged Nicholas Lee Tucker, 33, with first-degree manslaughter. His son was hospitalized at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital on March 13 after he was not breathing and died a few days later, according to charging documents.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Tucker’s behalf during his arraignment Friday. Pierce County Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille set his bail at $1 million.
Debbe Almy, who is the grandmother to the victim, said in an emotional statement during the hearing that Tucker has no remorse for his alleged actions. She also said that Tucker allegedly would hold the child and her daughter, the infant’s mother, “hostage.”
Almy told The News Tribune outside the courtroom that Tucker allegedly would not allow the child to go to family functions or gatherings such as camping and hunting trips.
She said that her family wanted bail to be set at $1 million and do not want to see Tucker hurting another family member again.
“We miss [the child] everyday,” Almy said with tears in her eyes. “We’re a very strong family, but it’s too bad we had to come to this and meet [Tucker] here like this.”
The child’s identity has not yet been released, pending confirmation from the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Court records show the child’s mother, Karlee Eley, 26, also has been charged with first-degree manslaughter. A bench warrant was issued for her arrest Friday.
Charging details
Officers in Bonney Lake were dispatched at 7:41 on March 13 to an apartment complex in the 22000 block of 110th Street East after a child was found unresponsive. Tucker and Eley were at the apartment when police arrived. Officers performed CPR as the child was not breathing, according to charging documents.
Fire personnel took over, and the child was taken to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. He died on March 18.
When police asked the parents if the child possibly ingested drugs, they said no. Tucker took the officers to a bedroom where the child was was lying. Tucker later told police that he gave the child a bottle and then laid him down. Tucker then fell asleep.
Eley told officers she arrived between 7:05 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the apartment and smelled vomit when she walked into the bedroom, documents show. When she woke Tucker up and said she smelled vomit, he didn’t say anything, according to Eley. When Eley checked on her son, he was blue.
An officer looked around the bedroom and found a butane lighter as well as a container that was open and appeared empty on the bed. The officer believed the lighter was used to light the narcotics, documents show. The officer left the room and came back to find the container missing. Tucker told police he moved it into the closet and then the officer detained him for “intentionally moving and tampering with evidence.”
During a search of the apartment, detectives found found substances that tested positive for fentanyl, including in the bed. There was also an empty plastic Ziploc bag that had the words “FeNtANYL DANGEr” written on it, documents show. Burnt tin foil pieces were also found in the apartment.
“Inside the bedroom closet detectives located the previously described green and white rubber container. There was no lid on it, and there was a hard white substance inside the container that appeared to match the white substance found on the bed,” documents say.
The substance also tested positive for fentanyl.
A test arranged by the apartment complex was performed to test the unit for possible dangerous residue after Tucker and Eley moved out. The results allegedly showed “the highest amount of residue they had ever seen in a residential apartment that had not been used for the manufacture of narcotics.” The test also confirmed methamphetamine and fentanyl were found in the unit.
In April 2024, Tucker was arrested in Bonney Lake after police found him slumped over in his vehicle at a parking lot, documents show. Several drugs, including fentanyl, were found in a children’s container, documents show. A detective later learned from Eley that the child would be driven using that vehicle.
A detective asked Eley during the March investigation if she had a conversation with Tucker after his April 2024 arrest, and she said she did not know he had that much “stuff” on him, documents show. She alleged she never saw Tucker take drugs at the home, and when asked again what drugs he allegedly used, she said words to the effect of, “I guess fentanyl.”
Eley also claimed Tucker had a Xanax problem, and he was “always in the bathroom.” At one point, he allegedly told her he would never have drugs around the baby, documents show.
Blood samples taken from Tucker’s blood on May 13 allegedly showed he had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his blood. The child’s blood also showed he had fentanyl and norfentanyl in his system.
This is the second case in the past few months in Pierce County where a child died from acute fentanyl toxicity. The News Tribune reported that on March 13, 5-year-old Brentlee Lawrence died from ingesting fentanyl and his mother Jordan Elizabeth Shank, 32, was charged with first-degree manslaughter on May 9.