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 brought in by its mother, 38-year-old Korisa Woll, according to a news release.
When officers arrived at the hospital, they met with Woll and observed the deceased child.
Department investigators who were immediately called in learned that the child died while in Woll’s care at their residence in the city of Santa Cruz.
The medical examiner took possession of the deceased child and the results of a full autopsy are pending. But according to the district attorney’s office, early 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 crimes against children, one with an enhancement for great bodily injury to a child younger than 5, plus an additional misdemeanor count of tampering with evidence, such ashe Mercury News reported.
The Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to The Times’ request for comment prior to publication.
The district attorney’s office told the Mercury News that the child, who they refer to as “Zhorriah Doe,” was found dead Sunday in a bed with her sleeping 4-year-old brother.
Santa Cruz Police Det. Robert Caposio said Woll had taken her child “to a known drug area and a residence there.” Woll’s alleged neglect of her child “led directly to her death,” the Mercury News reported.
The Mercury News reported that Knoll, her child and her child’s father were recently 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 living situation after the July date is unknown.
The District Attorney’s Office investigation is ongoing, and Woll’s initial trial in Santa Cruz County Superior Court was delayed until August 7.