A plea deal has been reached in the case of the Fremont mother whose child overdosed on fentanyl

A Fremont mother pleaded guilty this week to involuntary manslaughter in the death of her youngest child, who overdosed on the powerful narcotic fentanyl just two weeks after his second birthday.

Sophia Gastelum-Vera, 27, formally accepted the plea deal Wednesday after prosecutors expressed plans to drop a number of lesser charges in the 2023 overdose, including a felony count of abuse on children and several drug-related crimes. She is due to be sentenced on October 21.

The plea deal comes nearly a year after Gastelum-Vera’s 23-month-old son, Kristofer Ferreyra, died from the same powerful synthetic painkiller that has been responsible for several Bay Area child deaths in recent years .

It remains unclear how authorities suspect the boy got his tiny hands on the fentanyl. The boy slept in his mother’s bedroom on the night of Oct. 17, 2023, just steps away from where Gastelum-Vera used metal foil and cut straws to smoke the opioid as part of a gnawing addiction, authorities say.

Gastelum-Vera found Kristofer unresponsive at approximately 6:30 the next morning. 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 drugs in the home. But when officers searched the Fremont home shortly after the boy’s death, they found empty baggies that were covered in the drug, as well as messages on the mother’s phone detailing how she bought fentanyl the night before her son’s death, court records show .

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

It also added concerns about Alameda County’s safety net for children. 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 siblings in his mother’s care, despite the fact that police had just found drug paraphernalia scattered in the boy’s bedroom, according to records obtained by this newspaper. The boy’s death was not noted in the initial assessment of the home by a social worker.

Gastelum-Vera’s fentanyl addiction has often been the focus of court hearings over the past two years.

A few months after her arrest, a judge allowed her to be released from prison to a residential treatment program, where she lived for 90 days. She was then allowed to be released on her own recognizance while undergoing a court-ordered intensive outpatient treatment program.

Court records suggest she excelled in that treatment program.

Several progress reports filed with the court gave him high marks for following program requirements and adhering to random drug tests. Her most recent court report, dated May 31, said she was “actively engaged” in the treatment program and attended an average of two group sessions a day in May.

“Overall, Sophia appears committed to her sobriety, practices open and honest self-reflection, and has demonstrated the ability to develop and implement effective tools for sustained sobriety,” the report said. “She is making excellent progress and participating above her minimum requirements.”

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 published: August 16, 2024 at 12:01 p.m