Brentwood mom faces murder charge
A Brentwood woman was charged with murder this week in the death of her 2yearold son, after the toddler allegedly consumed fentanyl that was in her possession, Contra Costa County prosecutors said Thursday.
Genesis Barrera Galdamez, 22, was also charged with felony child abuse and felony possession of fentanyl to sell, and faces charging enhancements of willful harm causing injury and great bodily injury resulting in brain damage and paralysis.
An autopsy report for the boy, Jasani Kerry Jr., found that his death was caused by acute fentanyl toxicity. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid used for pain relief, has been blamed for this year’s alarming spike in San Francisco overdoses.
Derek Butts, homicide unit supervisor for the Contra Costa district attorney’s office, said that while Barrera Galdamez didn’t intend for her son to die, evidence showed she was aware the fentanyl was dangerous and exposed Jasani to it anyway.
“Well known amongst abusers, fentanyl is an exceptionally toxic and dangerous substance,” Butts said. “The act of exposing people to or supplying others with fentanyl, if death results, can lead to murder charges.”
The boy’s death came almost exactly one year after another, simliar tragedy in Santa Rosa, when fentanyl overdoses killed 29yearold Patrick O’Neill and his 13monthold son, Liam. Federal prosecutors charged three people with distribution of fentanyl in relation to the deaths, and linked the drugs to a network of dealers in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.
The San Francisco medical examiner’s office reported 468 overdose deaths in the first eight months of the year, a figure that’s on pace to exceed 700 lives lost to drugs by the end of 2020. It’s a stunning jump from the 441 people who died of drug overdoses in 2019 and the 259 killed by drugs in 2018.
Barrera Galdamez called police to report that her son was not breathing and unresponsive in the early morning
hours of Sept. 20. The boy’s body, she said, appeared blue and was very cold.
Brentwood police and medics performed emergency lifesaving procedures on the toddler for over 30 minutes and were unable to revive him, prosecutors said.
At the scene, officers allegedly located drug paraphernalia in and around the bed BarreraGaldamez shared with her son, along with 13 grams of powdered fentanyl, baggies and tinfoil pieces containing the drug’s residue.
Police said BarreraGaldamez attempted to sell fentanyl after her boy’s death, and officers obtained a warrant for her arrest on Oct. 29. She was arrested at the Comfort Inn in Antioch, where she was allegedly selling more of the drug, police said.
BarreraGaldamez made her first appearance in court on Wednesday, and remains in custody on a $ 1.1 million bail. Her next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 18. Attorneys representing her at the Contra Costa County public defender’s office did not respond to a request for comment.