Chelsea Whitfield, 29, and Anthony Solansky, 28, appeared in Butte County Superior Court as they are facing charged with felony child endangerment with a special allegation that the endangerment caused the death of the child.
The charge stems from an incident that occurred on March 9, where the child was rushed to Oroville Hospital after the parents realized he was unresponsive. He was pronounced dead a short time later, and it was determined that the cause of death was fentanyl intoxication.
An extensive investigation by the Oroville Police Department alleges that earlier that day, the couple and the child were asleep in a bedroom of their home all day. Whitfield was sleeping after a multi-day drug bender, including fentanyl and methamphetamine. That afternoon, Solansky awoke to use the bathroom and gave his child his cellphone to watch children’s YouTube videos before Solansky went back to sleep.
A person described as Whitfield’s drug dealer entered the room unannounced about this time, and after a brief interaction with Solansky and Whitfield, retrieved some car keys and potentially provided fentanyl to Whitfield. Both parents then went back to sleep, leaving the child awake and watching cellphone videos.
Investigators suspect that it was during this time that the two-year-old got into his mother's fentanyl stash.
Hours later, the parents were awakened by a housemate, and that is when they discovered the child lying unresponsive next to the mother in the bed on her arm.
