Parents who exposed Their Kids to Fentanyl on Probation
A man and his girlfriend who exposed their three children to fentanyl, causing one to suffer a medical emergency, were on probation today after admitting felony charges filed against them.
Kamron Charles Sanders, 32, and Joshulyn Denise Penniman, 30, both of Riverside, pleaded guilty on Thursday to three counts of child cruelty under a pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. In exchange for their admissions, prosecutors dropped sentence-enhancing allegations of inflicting great bodily injury against both defendants.
During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Superior Court Judge Thomas Kelly certified the terms of the plea deals and ordered Penniman to serve 116 days in county jail and 48 months' probation, while Sanders was ordered to spend 65 days in local custody, as well as 48 months' probation.
Sanders was additionally directed to undergo drug addiction rehabilitation therapy.
Neither defendant was behind bars on Monday, and it was unclear whether the pair would spend any time in jail because of overcrowding and the sheriff's constant need for correctional space. Under a federal court order, whenever there aren't sufficient inmate beds, deputies are required to release lower level offenders to make room for incoming ones.
According to Riverside police spokesman Officer Ryan Railsback, on June 5, 2023, paramedics were called to a grocery store on Magnolia Avenue in response to reports of a 3-year-old boy in medical distress.
The victim was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where patrol officers were summoned after Penniman attempted to "interfere with the hospital's care of her son,'' Railsback said.
"Soon after, it was discovered the child had fentanyl in his blood stream and overdosed,'' he said.
The boy was stabilized and has since recovered.
Detectives initiated an investigation that uncovered the victim, ``his 2-year-old sister, 5-year-old brother and parents had been experiencing homelessness for the past few months and were living in their car,'' the police spokesman said.
He said the 2-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy were examined and "also tested positive for fentanyl ... after (they) were possibly exposed to the drug in the car.''
Sanders and Penniman were taken into custody without incident that week. The children were placed in the care of county Department of Child Protective Services personnel.
According to court records, Sanders had prior convictions for embezzlement and domestic battery. Penniman had no documented prior convictions in Riverside County.
According to the D.A.'s office, there were 550 known fentanyl-related fatalities countywide in 2023, a 9% increase from 2022, when there were 503.
Fentanyl is manufactured in overseas labs, principally in China, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which says the drug is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border by cartels.
Fentanyl is 80-100 times more potent than morphine and can be mixed into any number of street narcotics and prescription drugs, without a user knowing what he or she is consuming. Ingestion of only two milligrams can be fatal.
Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 and 45 years old.
