Troopers said the man, who was dating the boy's mother, had a habit of reckless drug use which exposed the child to the deadly substance.
Newfield, N.Y. — A Tompkins County man has been charged with manslaughter after a 4-year-old boy died from fentanyl last year, State Police said. Justin M. Fenton, 31, of Newfield, was arrested and charged Monday with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and tampering with evidence, troopers said in a news release. Fenton was dating the boy’s mother at the time of his death, said Trooper Aga Tinker, a spokesperson for the state police. On June 30, 2024, troopers responded to a home on South Way in the town of Newfield for a boy who was unconscious. The boy was not breathing and was in cardiac arrest, troopers said. The child was transported to Cayuga Medical Center and was later pronounced dead. An autopsy found that the boy’s death was caused by fentanyl toxicity, troopers said.
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Since 2022, at least four children in Syracuse have died of drug fentanyl overdoses, including an 11-month-old boy, a 1-year-old girl, a 2-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy.