A Santa Cruz County mother faces criminal negligence charges after her 18-month-old baby died from a possible fentanyl overdose.
According to a news release, on July 28, the Santa Cruz Police Department responded to Dignity Health Dominican Hospital regarding a deceased infant who was being cared for by her mother, 38-year-old Korisa Woll. ) brought.
When police arrived at the hospital, they met with Wall and observed the dead baby.
Investigators with the department immediately received a call and learned the child had died while in the care of Wall’s residence in Santa Cruz.
The county coroner has taken custody of the deceased child and full autopsy results are pending. But early autopsy results showed “presumptive positivity” for cocaine and fentanyl in her system, according to the District Attorney’s Office. The official cause of death has not yet been determined.
According to the Mercury News, Wall was later booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on two counts of felony child endangerment, one of causing serious bodily injury to a child under 5 years old and one of destroying evidence.
The Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to The New York Times’ request for comment ahead of publication.
The district attorney’s office told The Mercury News that the baby, whom they called “Zhorriah Doe,” was found dead in her bed Sunday with her sleeping 4-year-old brother.
Santa Cruz Police Department Det. Robert Caposio said Wall took her children “to a known drug area and a residence therein.” According to the Mercury News, Wall allegedly neglected her children “directly resulting in her death.”
According to the Mercury News, Noelle, her children and their father were recently homeless until his death from a fentanyl overdose in April. After Wall’s death, he lived with his children and parents in Scotts Valley until July 16.
The investigation by the District Attorney’s Office is ongoing, and Wall’s first arraignment in Santa Cruz County Superior Court has been postponed until August 7.
