Santa Rosa toddler’s death linked to fentanyl a ‘ticking timebomb’

A Sonoma County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that the parents of a 15-month-old girl who died last year due to possible exposure to fentanyl they are accused of bringing into the family’s Santa Rosa apartment will stand trial in connection with their daughter’s death.

That decision by Judge Robert LaForge followed a five-hour preliminary hearing for Evan Frostick and Madison Bernard that included testimony from five investigators who recounted the series of events that took place before and after the couple’s daughter, Charlotte, died on May 9, 2022.

Frostick and Bernard are next scheduled to be arraigned April 27.

Relying on interviews and text messages, investigators portrayed Frostick and Bernard as fentanyl addicts who were concerned about losing their daughter and took measures to shield her from their opioid use.

Regardless of the couple’s efforts, Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney Thomas Gotshall said, a “ticking timebomb” had developed and it was only a matter of time before Charlotte came into contact with fentanyl.

“And she did,” Gotshall told LaForge.

Lynnette Brown and Rahul Balaram, the respective attorneys for Frostick and Bernard, agreed no one knows exactly how Charlotte got the fentanyl.

Brown, however, emphasized in her closing argument that much of the information investigators had came from Bernard, while Frostick wasn’t home when Charlotte died.

“We don’t know what happened, but we know who wasn’t there,” Brown told LaForge.

Balaram stressed that Bernard went out of her way to use fentanyl while her daughter was in another room and the child’s death was not malicious.

LaForge was unfazed. He declined to reduce the charges of murder and child endangerment that were filed last year after the Sonoma County Coroner concluded Charlotte died from “acute fentanyl intoxication.”

Balaram consoled a visibly distraught Bernard when testimony focused on the autopsy and the process of investigating a death.

Investigators testified both defendants admitted to using fentanyl and text messages showed Frostick purchased the drug at least as far back as March 2020.

During Thursday’s hearing, Ryan Hughes, a narcotics detective with the Santa Rosa Police Department, described fentanyl as a fine powder similar to powdered sugar.

In the aftermath of Charlotte’s death, investigators searched the Sonoma Avenue apartment where the family stayed.

Taking the stand Thursday, Hughes described the apartment as messy and in disarray. He added that among the suspected fentanyl and drug paraphernalia, there was “a coating” of powder on a nightstand next to the bed where the parents and child slept.

“It was like someone had sprinkled a powder on the table,” Hughes testified.

He said 2.7 grams of fentanyl was discovered at the apartment, along with burned tinfoil and several tooters or straws ‒ which are both used to smoke the drug.

Tinfoil, Hughes said, was in a plastic bag on the bedroom floor and in a bathroom trash can.

Hughes testified as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal and, “I recognized this was many, many, many times over that.”

The investigation began May 9, moments after Bernard called authorities to tell them she had discovered Charlotte was not breathing. The child was pronounced dead at Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

Santa Rosa police Officer Madeline Chanin-Meiers was one of the first officers at the scene last year. She testified that Bernard admitted to using fentanyl.

“She said it was, in fact, fentanyl,” the officer said Thursday. “She said she knew it was dangerous.”

Investigators believe Charlotte ingested the fentanyl by touching it and then possibly put her hands into her mouth or on her eyes.

The defense’s cross-examination of witnesses partly revolved around clarification of their statements and the dangers of fentanyl.

Balaram, asked if fentanyl users understand lethal exposure could result even after they finish smoking.

“In your experience, do drug users know tooters or foil are just as dangerous?” he asked Hughes.

The detective said he didn’t know.

Experts maintain fentanyl’s toxicity makes it 100 times more powerful than morphine and even a trace amount of it can be deadly.

Bernard and Frostick were arrested the same day their daughter died, but authorities released them days later pending further investigation into Charlotte’s cause of death.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office filed charges Aug. 4 and both defendants were scheduled to appear in court that day.

Frostick showed up and was taken into custody, but Bernard did not.

LaForge said that day he was told Bernard had tested positive for COVID-19. Nevertheless, because he had ordered Bernard to be in court, the judge issued a warrant for her arrest.

Bernard surrendered days later, but officials never specified why she missed the Aug. 4 hearing.

The case brought new attention on a matter that North Bay lawmakers and law enforcement officials have been tackling in recent years.

Fentanyl exposure had been linked to at least one previous death involving a Sonoma County toddler.

In September 2019, fentanyl was blamed for the deaths of Patrick O’Neill, 29, and his 13-month-old son, Liam, who were discovered at their Santa Rosa home on Darek Drive.

Investigators say O’Neill used fentanyl with friends before heading home with his son. His mother, Emily Guillory of Petaluma, said she believes Liam crawled out of bed that night and ingested fentanyl he found on the floor.

Three defendants were held liable for allowing O’Neill access to the opioids, which subsequently took the life of his son.

All three were convicted in federal court.

In November 2021, Bernard sent Frostick a text with a link or screengrab to a Press Democrat article referencing the O’Neill case.

The context of the text wasn’t specified Thursday, but Gotshall said it was “telling.”

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi