APPLE VALLEY, Minn. — A Maplewood woman pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the death of her 3-year-old son who died of acute fentanyl poisoning.
Queenetta Jeanette McDaniel, 35, entered her plea Monday in Dakota County District Court. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 16, 2024, where she could get a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
According to a criminal complaint, first responders were dispatched to an apartment in West St. Paul in the early morning of Dec. 7, 2021, after reports that a child wasn't breathing. When police arrived, they were told by the child's mother, later identified as McDaniel, that she had been asleep on the couch with the boy and woke up to use the bathroom. She claimed that when she returned, her son wasn't breathing and appeared to have vomited.
The 3-year-old was rushed to Children's Hospital, where he was declared deceased. An autopsy completed by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office determined the defendant's child died of acute fentanyl toxicity. No other injuries or illnesses were documented that could have factored into the death.
The complaint didn't detail how the child ingested the drugs.
Investigators learned from members of a regional drug task force that McDaniel had been staying with a friend who was suspected of dealing drugs out of the apartment, including fentanyl. Police suspected after speaking with the defendant at the scene initially that was under the influence of drugs. A blood sample was drawn from McDaniel that later tested positive for Fentanyl.
Witnesses also told police that McDaniel was a heavy and habitual user of illicit drugs, and had been seen smoking fentanyl at the apartment.
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