Dayanna Familia pleaded not guilty Monday to charges tied to her four-year-old daughter’s fentanyl death.
Familia, 35, was arraigned in Dorchester after Boston police arrested her Saturday for the Aug. 17 death of Liyanna, the little girl who turned blue and died after being rushed from a Fuller Street home to a local hospital. Prosecutors revealed in court that the mother had allegedly fed first responders a fabricated story while the child was actively dying.
She told EMS personnel that “the child was drinking milk when she turned blue and perhaps had gotten into a roach trap,” according to prosecutors. The first responders were in the midst of trying to save the girl’s life as Familia offered this explanation, officials said.
The mother likely knew the true cause was fentanyl, prosecutors alleged, yet chose not to report the drug to authorities at the time of the medical emergency.
Body camera footage appeared to show Familia trying to conceal and destroy a white powder alleged to be fentanyl, state attorneys said in court. A subsequent search warrant executed at her home also turned up the deadly drug, according to prosecutors.
The child’s death unfolded in the 200 block of Fuller Street just before 9 p.m. On Aug. 17, where officers had attempted life-saving measures before the hospital transfer. Boston police confirmed the girl died after the rush to medical care.
Familia’s attorney asked the court to set bail at $10,000, citing the undue financial burden a higher amount would place on the family. The judge rejected that request and held her on $250,000 bail instead.
The case centers on a mother who prosecutors say watched her daughter succumb to a fatal overdose while actively misleading the very responders attempting to reverse the tragedy. The roach-trap detail and the milk explanation were offered even as the child’s condition visibly deteriorated, according to the allegations presented Monday.
Familia faces prosecution for the death of the toddler, whose poisoning prosecutors say she failed to prevent and then declined to acknowledge. The concealment attempts captured on body camera and the later discovery of fentanyl at the residence formed key pieces of the state’s presentation at the arraignment.
An attorney for Familia did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the hearing.
