LAKE WORTH BEACH (CBS12) — A man and a woman are facing federal drug charges after investigators indicated the fentanyl that killed a 10-month-old infant was traced back to them, the Justice Department reported.
The suspects, Darnell Mendez and Samantha Yi, both of Lake Worth Beach, appeared in court Thursday where Yi, 32, was charged with distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. Mendez, 31, faces a charge of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida, investigators found months of text messages on the phone belonging to the infant’s mother that indicated Yi had been selling her drugs. A news release said they were also able to determine that that it was Yi who sold the infant’s mother fentanyl on March 30, 2022, and that was the fentanyl that killed the child.
The Boynton Beach Police Department had previously arrested the mother in the child’s death, charging her with aggravated manslaughter of a child by culpable negligence, according to the statement. The child’s mother and father both abused fentanyl, according to the news release.
On March 31, a day after the drug sale, the mother was home with the infant while the father was at work. The infant, who was teething at the time, ingested the fentanyl, federal prosecutors said, citing the police department’s report. The child died five days later at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood.
On Wednesday, just weeks shy of the two-year mark since the infant’s death, two undercover officers allegedly purchased fentanyl from Yi and Mendez at their home in Lake Worth Beach. The operation was part of a joint effort involving the DEA, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, and the Boynton Beach Police Department.
They were in court the next day, where prosecutors described the pair as a flight risk and noted that 14 firearms were found in their home, the federal government said. They are scheduled to be arraigned on March 21.
If convicted, Yi faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, and Mendez could receive up to 20 years in prison.
WPEC-CBS12 is a news partner of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.