A Santa Cruz County mother is facing criminal neglect charges after her 18-month-old baby died of a possible fentanyl overdose.
On July 28, the Santa Cruz Police Department responded to Dignity Health Dominican Hospital for a report of a deceased infant who had been brought in by his mother, Korisa Woll, 38, according to a news release.
When officers arrived at the hospital, they encountered Woll and observed the deceased infant.
Department investigators who were immediately called learned that the child had died while in Woll’s care at their residence in the city of Santa Cruz.
The county coroner has taken possession of the deceased child and the results of a full autopsy are pending. But according to the district attorney’s office, initial autopsy results showed a “presumptive positive” for cocaine and fentanyl in her system. An official cause of death has not been determined.
Woll was later booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on two counts of child endangerment, one aggravated for serious bodily injury to a child under 5, plus an additional misdemeanor count of destruction of evidence, the Mercury News reported.
The Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to The Times’ request for comment before publication.
The prosecutor’s office told the Mercury News that the baby, whom they are calling “Zhorriah Doe,” was found dead Sunday in a bed with her sleeping 4-year-old brother.
Santa Cruz Police Detective Robert Caposio said Woll took her child “to an area known for drug activity and to a residence there.” Woll’s alleged neglect of her child “directly led to her death,” the Mercury News reported.
The Mercury News reported that Knoll, her children and her baby’s father were homeless until the father died of a fentanyl overdose in April. Woll took her children to live with her parents in Scotts Valley after his death until July 16. Woll’s whereabouts beyond July are unknown.
The district attorney’s office’s investigation is ongoing, and Woll’s initial arraignment in Santa Cruz County Superior Court has been postponed until August 7.
