Fremont mother convicted of fentanyl overdose in death of 23-month-old son

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

Sophia Gastelum-Vera, 27, wept 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 related to the synthetic opioid. She also vowed to continue rehab and treatment for an addiction that overtook her life and left her estranged from Kristofer’s three surviving siblings.

“I’m not going to try at all to justify my actions,” Gastelum-Vera, 27, said as she read 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 four years in prison after pleading guilty in August to involuntary manslaughter. His plea came as part of a deal with prosecutors that included the dismissal of several lesser charges, including one count of child abuse and multiple drug-related misdemeanors.

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

They also praised Gastelum-Vera for being so engaged 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 outlined several “significant” factors that suggested Gastelum-Vera deserved a harsher sentence, including how she smoked a drug she knew was dangerous in the same room as her toddler and another child. Worst of all, Blakeley said, was how the boy had so much life left to live.

However, Blakely also praised Gastelum-Vera for jumping so fervently into fighting her addiction after she was ordered by another judge to a three-month residential treatment program late last year.

On Monday, several family members and friends of Gastelum-Vera sat in the courtroom in a show of support for the woman. They joined rehabilitation counselors who have been overseeing his treatment for the past few months.

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

Blakely sentenced Gastelum-Vera on Monday to one year in prison, with a chance to see half that sentence off with good behavior. He also received credit for already serving 43 days in jail after his arrest last year. Once out, he must serve two years of probation.

Blakely also denied a request by Gastelum-Vera’s attorney to allow the woman to serve her sentence under 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 genuine.”

The hearing came nearly a year after Gastelum-Vera found Kristofer unresponsive around 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2023. Her boyfriend, who also slept in the room with them that night, took the boy and his mother to the hospital. Kristofer was pronounced dead an hour later.

Gastelum-Vera initially told police she did not keep any drugs at home. 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 detailing how she bought the narcotic the night before she died, according to the court records.

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

He also added concerns about the safety net for children in Alameda County. A review by this news organization of Kristofer’s child welfare records found inconsistent record-keeping and troubling inconsistencies in how county officials responded to the toddler’s death.

Shortly after the incident, a social worker recommended keeping the boy’s three younger siblings in their mother’s care despite police having just found drug paraphernalia strewn around the boy’s room, according to records obtained by this newspaper . The child’s death was not noted in the initial assessment by a home social worker.

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

Originally Posted: October 21, 2024 at 3:39 p.m