Hearing set in case of girl’s fentanylrelated death
A woman who police say is responsible for the death of her 12-year-old daughter by fentanyl poisoning will appear for a review hearing in April in Weld District Court.
At a different review hearing for 32-year-old Mystique Wadena on Wednesday, Weld District Judge Vincente Vigil set the court date for April 10, citing a delay in receiving Wadena’s mental health evaluation.
Vigil said he recently received a letter from the Department of Human Services indicating a delay in the evaluation and that it will be provided to the court no later than March 29.
Wadena’s case dates back to May 2, 2022, when she called 911 from a hotel room in Firestone, where paramedics found an unresponsive 12-year-old girl — later found to be Wadena’s daughter, Azalea Hirschfeld.
First responders took the girl to a Longmont hospital, and she was then transferred to Children’s Hospital in Aurora, where she was pronounced dead five days after the 911 call. An autopsy indicated she died from complications due to acute fentanyl toxicity.
Firestone detectives and the Weld County Drug Task Force investigated Wadena and determined she was using and selling fentanyl from her hotel room.
The night before her daughter’s overdose, Wadena asked her mother for permission to visit her three children — ages 5, 12 and 14 — though they weren’t in Wadena’s legal custody.
Wadena’s 14-year-old and Azalea both consumed some of Wadena’s fentanyl pills while she slept with her youngest son, according to police.
When Firestone police arrived at the hotel, paramedics had already taken Azalea to a hospital,
while Wadena’s other two children remained in the room.
Police say Wadena, however, was in the hotel lobby’s bathroom. An officer reported finding burnt tin foil in the bathroom after Wadena exited.
Police believe Wadena was under the influence when they contacted her in the lobby. She told police she thought she had thrown all the drugs away, according to arrest records. Wadena said her friend was using the drugs in the room but that she had cleaned the room before her children came to visit.
Wadena told police she fell asleep with her son. When she woke up, she found her youngest daughter cold and asleep. Unable to wake her, Wadena called 911.
Wadena’s 14-year-old daughter told law enforcement she found burnt tin foil and fentanyl pills in Wadena’s hands while she was sleeping. The 14-yearold also said Azalea told her she found pills in their mother’s purse and put some in her backpack.
Later, while executing a search warrant of the hotel room, police reported finding 13 pills that later tested positive for fentanyl and two crumpled-up pieces of burnt foil in Azalea’s backpack.
According to the 14-yearold, the two daughters went into the bathroom to smoke the remainder of the pills after finding them. She said they smoked together on two separate occasions before they both fell asleep.
After the second time smoking, the older sister said her younger sister looked “stiff” as she went to lie down on an ottoman in the room and passed out. The 14-year-old told police her younger sister smoked more than her.
The 14-year-old then woke up to Wadena screaming about Azalea’s unresponsive condition, according to police. After calling 911, Wadena quickly handed the phone to the 14-year-old, who began to relay information to dispatchers.
Wadena’s older daughter took instructions from a dispatcher to perform CPR on her sister. Meanwhile, video surveillance showed Wadena on her cell phone as she carried a bag from the room to the lobby.
Police later spoke with Wadena at the hotel. After, they say Wadena left and they were unable to locate her that night.
Nearly five months later, on Sept. 28, 2022, police arrested Wadena on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death and intent to distribute narcotics.
In an interview with police, Wadena’s 14-year-old daughter confirmed to police she had smoked fentanyl with her mother prior to the hotel stay.
The daughter said Wadena provided her with fentanyl for a one-time use to get rid of a week-long migraine. The girl said she became addicted after trying it. She then started using daily and stealing fentanyl from her mother’s purse, the girl told police, eventually admitting she started doing drugs with her younger sister.
A defense attorney for Wadena argued that since Wadena’s oldest daughter admitted she was still accessing fentanyl pills from her home even after she was separated from her mother, the pills smoked the night of her sister’s overdose could have come from another person.
Azalea’s obituary described her as “full of wonder and adventure,” “a loving and giving big sister” and “a wonderful and thoughtful little sister.”
Wadena’s review hearing is set for 8:15 a.m. April 10 in Weld District Court.