SEATTLE — A Seattle mother has been charged for allegedly being responsible for her one-year-old child consuming fentanyl, and dying from that consumption, prosecutors say.
Just after midnight on Aug. 23, Seattle police officers and medics responded to an apartment on S Grand St. for a child who reportedly wasn’t breathing.
Divina Tangalan (who also goes by Nakiah Cunningham), 39, told responding officers that she had fallen asleep on the couch with her 1-year-old child. When she woke up, the infant, still in her arms, was limp and not breathing, according to court documents.
Despite best efforts to revive the child, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to court documents, Tangalan told responding officers that she suffers from a fentanyl addiction and that there was a stash in the house.
“Defendant admitted to recent fentanyl use and believed her son may have gotten ahold of her fentanyl, which resulted in his death,” court documents read.
As she talked with responding officers, she allegedly appeared high or intoxicated and said: “I’m sorry, I f***** up. It’s all my fault,” according to a Seattle police incident report.
Tangalan was arrested and booked for manslaughter investigation. On Aug. 26, she was charged with reckless endangerment - domestic violence and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Tangalan has previous convictions and is not allowed to have weapons. An SPD report in court documents said a gun was found inside the home.
Additional charges are possible as the investigation is ongoing.
The medical examiner reported that the child’s blood and urine were positive for fentanyl.
The ME also noted evidence consistent with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), or an “overlay” of SIDS, which means the child was also accidentally smothered while sleeping with his mother, court documents said.
What was found in the house
According to court documents, Tangalan said that when she woke up from that nap, she found her lighter (that she said she kept with her drugs) on the couch. She told detectives that she keeps her drugs in a container in the bathroom, and that she locks that bathroom.
When she woke up, the bathroom door was also open and the light was on, according to court documents.
It’s unclear how the child consumed the fentanyl.
A K9 later alerted to narcotics in the bathroom, the trash can, a shared closet and other areas throughout the house, all of which were accessible to children.
Aside from the 1-year-old child, Tangalan also had a 2.5-year-old in the home, according to police reports.
According to court documents, an unsecured handgun was also found in the bathroom, accessible to the two and a half year old.
Investigators found that the child’s father was not home at the time of the child’s death, and they believe Tangalan was the sole supervisor of the children.
Tangalan’s history
According to court documents, just earlier in the month, a safety plan for the young children was put in place by the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).
DCYF said that Tangalan and the child’s father have been “cooperating” with them for a year, though the pair tested positive for narcotics during a Aug. 5 oral swab, court docs said. It’s unclear why they were in contact with DCYF in this capacity.
In 2013, Tangalan was convicted for first-degree custodial interference. According to court docs, her 11-year-old was a ward of the state at that time. She took him for an “extended period of time,” court docs said.
Court documents said she was accused of “subjecting her child to dangerous and unsavory persons, situations, and environments. The defendant acknowledged she would go to jail but refused to surrender her child.”
In 2014, she was arrested for allegedly violating a domestic violence order.
Tangalan was also accused of assault against her mother in 2003 and was convicted for possession with intention to distribute cocaine in 2006.
“Despite the significant gap in criminal history, clearly, the defendant had not modified her behavior, and her behavior has placed her helpless and dependent children in dangerous conditions that may have contributed to the death,” King County Prosecutors wrote in court documents.
Her next court appearance is Aug. 31.