Milwaukee mom accused, baby's death; fentanyl in child's blood: complaint

MILWAUKEE - A 29-year-old Milwaukee woman faces multiple charges in the wake of her 10-month-old baby dying. The medical examiner indicated there was a presence of fentanyl in the child's blood. Kiara Hopson now faces the following criminal counts:  

• Neglecting a child-consequence is great bodily harm
• Neglecting a child-consequence is bodily harm (three counts)

According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee firefighters responded on Wednesday evening, Oct. 25 to an apartment on N. Water Street a couple blocks north of Holton for a report of an unresponsive child. When they arrived on the scene, they found a 10-month-old child needing immediate medical attention. Despite life-saving measures, the child was pronounced deceased on the scene.

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Detectives interviewed the defendant, Kiara Hopson, the mother of the deceased child. Hopson told police on the afternoon of Oct. 25, she stepped out for a few minutes and the older children watched the younger children. When she returned, one of the older children indicated the baby (who died) had fallen asleep in the high chair. Hopson told police she put the child on a mattress on the living room floor. The complaint says a few minutes later, Hopson said "she sensed something was not right and went to check on (the child)." The child was limp -- and she told one of the older children to call 911.

A search of Hopson's apartment was performed by investigators. The complaint says "there was a large money counter located on the kitchen island. Inside a drawer of the kitchen island, police located and recovered two digital scales, one with a white powdery substance of suspected narcotics, on the scale. In the garbage police located two white latex gloves that were knotted together at the very top of the garbage."

On Oct. 26, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy of the child who died. Officials "did not locate any signs of trauma or disease externally or internally that could explain the cause of (the child's) death," the complaint says.

On Nov. 2, Milwaukee police were asked to administer a narcotics field test to the white powdery substance located on the digital scale recovered from the Hopson residence. That test "returned a positive result for the presence of fentanyl," the complaint says.

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The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office completed toxicology testing from the child's autopsy on Nov. 6. The child's blood tested positive for fentanyl, officials said, and the child's "cause of death is presumed to be due to acute drug intoxication," the complaint says.

Due to illicit substances being in the blood of the victim, drug testing was performed on the other children at the residence. Three children tested positive for drugs in their system – including fentanyl and cocaine, the complaint says.

Opioids in Milwaukee County

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office says since 2018, there have been seven drug overdose deaths under the age of 5. All of the cases were fentanyl-related.

"It’s just a very powerful opioid," said Dr. Ryan Feldman, Clinical Toxicologist for the Wisconsin Poison Center. "If you have incredibly potent opioids in the home and if they get that in their mouth, it can be fatal."

Dr. Ben Weston

Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County's Chief Medical Health Adviser, said events like this are avoidable with the right precautions.

"Having naloxone in your home, keeping your medications out of reach ideally locked up, and the best of all is to not have these substances in your home at all," Weston said. 

Hopson made her initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Saturday, Nov. 11. Cash bond was set at $10,000.