Mother and grandfather charged with murder in toddler’s fentanyl overdose

The mother and grandfather of a 17-month-old Lancaster toddler who died of a fentanyl overdose have been charged with his murder.

The grandfather, Jessie Darthard, told sheriff’s deputies that he had fallen asleep while smoking fentanyl and awoke to his grandson, Justin Bulley, lying motionless next to him on the couch.

The mother, Jessica Darthard, was charged with felony child abuse causing death, as was Secret Daniel, who was approved by the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services to supervise the mother’s visits with Justin.

An autopsy showed that Justin died Feb. 18 after ingesting a fatal amount of fentanyl, a highly potent drug that can be life-threatening to children in even the smallest doses.

Jessica Darthard, 39, was in the home when Justin died and appeared inebriated, according to sheriff’s deputies at the scene. She was arrested Tuesday and is being held in lieu of $2.08-million bail.

The Darthards and Daniel could not be reached for comment. L.A. County prosecutors filed the charges against them on Sept. 26.

The Department of Children and Family Services had placed Justin and his two older siblings with a foster mother the year before Justin’s death, after his mother’s boyfriend fatally overdosed on fentanyl with the children at home.

On the day Justin died, he was visiting his mother, with Daniel as the department-approved monitor.

The Times previously reported that the department had allowed Daniel, a friend of Justin’s mother, to monitor the visits without realizing that Daniel was living in the Lancaster home with Jessie Darthard, 72, who had a long history of heavy drug use.

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According to a motion filed by prosecutors, fentanyl and methamphetamine were later discovered in the home.

Jessie Darthard had previously been identified by law enforcement as a “known street heroin dealer” who had been arrested multiple times, the motion said.

Jessica Darthard’s two other children and Daniel’s three children tested positive for fentanyl exposure after Justin’s death, according to the filing.