South Florida man sold fentanyl that killed a baby girl. He got 30 years behind bars
A man accused of distributing the fentanyl that killed a 10-month-old baby girl after she ingested it in her parents’ Boynton Beach apartment has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
South Florida drug dealer, Darnell Mendez, 32, pleaded guilty on charges of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl resulting in death on July 25. His girlfriend Samantha Yi pleaded guilty to the same charges on Sept. 4.
On Tuesday, Mendez was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release. Yi, 33, will not be sentenced until Jan. 9.
The Lake Worth pair are accused of selling fentanyl to the baby’s mother, Kelly Kirwan, then 32.
Kirwan noticed her daughter making “strange noises” while sleeping on March 31. Concerned, she sent video clips to friends and family, who advised her that something was wrong, according to the Palm Beach Post.
She also sent the videos to Yi the same day the baby ingested the fentanyl. Just two hours later, Kirwan drove to Yi’s home to purchase more drugs, according to court records. Evidence shows the two women had been in constant communication and location data confirmed that Kirwan visited the home of Yi’s mother earlier that day.
Shortly after, federal prosecutors say Kirwan called 911 from a shopping plaza near Boynton Beach, reporting that her baby was unresponsive.
Baby lost all brain activity
Fire rescue transported the baby to Bethesda Hospital in Boynton Beach. On April 1, the baby was transferred to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, where, by April 5, she had lost all brain activity and was taken off life support, court records say.
The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the baby’s death a homicide. A toxicology report revealed fluorofentanyl, fentanyl, norfentanyl and naloxone in her system.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the CDC. It is often added to other drugs because of its extreme potency.
After the death of their baby, the Boynton Beach Police launched a homicide investigation that revealed the child’s parents were struggling with fentanyl addiction, using the drug regularly in their apartment. Investigators determined that the baby ingested fentanyl while teething on March 31, 2022, while under her mother’s care, with the father at work.
In October 2022, the mother, Kirwan, was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child by culpable negligence. She has since bonded out of jail, pleaded not guilty and remains under house arrest, according to Palm Beach County court records. Her next court date is unclear. The baby’s father has not been charged.
Text messages showed that Kirwan had purchased fentanyl from her sole dealer, Yi, the day before the baby’s death. The investigation also implicated Yi’s boyfriend, Mendez, in the drug distribution.
In a joint operation involving the DEA and other law enforcement agencies, undercover officers purchased fentanyl from the dealers, who were arrested March 6 at their Lake Worth home. There, they found 14 firearms, including a shotgun and several handguns. Yi and Mendez admitted to being felons in unlawful possession of firearms as part of their pleas.