Fremont mother convicted of fentanyl overdose in death of 23-month-old son – Times Herald Online

A Fremont mother could spend just under five more months in prison after pleading guilty in the death of her son, who overdosed on fentanyl last year while the woman lay unconscious from the powerful narcotic.

Sophia Gastelum-Vera, 27, cried Monday as she apologized for her role in the fatal overdose of 23-month-old Kristofer Ferreyra, whose death in October 2023 added to a growing list of young victims linked to the synthetic opioid. She also vowed to continue rehab and treatment for an addiction that overtook her life and left her separated from Kristofer’s three surviving siblings.

“I’m not going to try to justify my actions at all,” Gastelum-Vera, 27, said as he read from a prepared statement during a hearing Monday morning. “I miss my baby so much, and I want to be the mother I once was.”

Gastelum-Vera could have been sentenced to up to four years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in August. Her plea came as part of a deal with prosecutors that included the dismissal of several lesser charges, including a child abuse charge and multiple drug-related crimes.

However, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Clifford Blakely appeared to soften his stance toward Gastelum-Vera Monday morning after hearing her counselors and treatment providers praise the woman for her dedication to rehab. They recalled how the mother attended at least a dozen group therapy sessions a week while consistently testing negative for drugs.

They also praised Gastelum-Vera for being so involved with her three other children during their weekly visits.

“I came here fully prepared to send you to prison today,” Blakeley said during the hearing.

He cited several “significant” factors that suggested Gastelum-Vera deserved a harsher sentence, including the way she smoked a drug she knew was dangerous in the same room as her toddler and another child. Worst of all, Blakeley said, was that the boy had so much left to live.

Yet Blakely also praised Gastelum-Vera for joining the fight against her addiction so fervently after being sentenced by another judge to a three-month residential treatment program late last year.

On Monday, several family members and friends of Gastelum-Vera were in the courtroom to express their support for the woman. They joined the rehabilitation counselors who oversaw her treatment in recent months.

“She wanted it — she wanted a change in her life,” said Darlene Mitchell, program coordinator for Orchid Women’s Perinatal Treatment, the residential treatment program where Gastelum-Vera first received court-ordered help.

Blakely sentenced Gastelum-Vera on Monday to one year in prison, with the possibility of halving that sentence for good behavior. She was also credited with having already spent 43 days in jail after her arrest last year. Once released, she must serve two years of probation.

Blakely also denied a request from Gastelum-Vera’s lawyer to have the woman serve her sentence on house arrest.

“To say this is a tragic situation is an understatement… this is as tragic as it gets,” Blakeley said. “I know your remorse is sincere.”

The hearing took place almost a year to the day after Gastelum-Vera found Kristofer unconscious at around 6:30 am on October 18, 2023. Her boyfriend, who also slept in their room that night, took the boy and his mother to the hospital. Kristofer was pronounced dead an hour later.

Gastelum-Vera initially told police she had no drugs in the house. But when officers searched the Fremont home shortly after the boy’s death, they found empty baggies covered in fentanyl, as well as messages on the mother’s phone describing how she had purchased the narcotic the night before he died. court records show.

The case heightened fears that the powerful opioid, 50 times stronger than heroin, was increasingly being sold and used in family homes where children have easy access to it. Toddlers and babies in Brentwood, Livermore, Oakland and San Jose have already died from exposure to the drug or been seriously poisoned by it.

It also raised concerns about the safety net for children in Alameda County. An investigation by this news organization of Kristofer’s child welfare records found inconsistent recordkeeping and disturbing inconsistencies in how county officials responded to the toddler’s death.

Shortly after the incident, a social worker recommended keeping the boy’s three young siblings in the care of his mother, despite police having just found drug paraphernalia in the boy’s bedroom, according to records obtained by this newspaper. The boy’s death was not mentioned in a social worker’s initial assessment of the home.

Jakob Rodgers is a senior news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at [email protected].

Originally published: October 22, 2024 at 11:45 am