Four-month-old left orphaned at deadly house party
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A baby was found alive in a Colorado apartment complex along with five bodies, following what authorities describe as a drug-fuelled house party involving fentanyl-laced cocaine.
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The bodies of three women and two men, between the ages of 24 and 32, were discovered at the home located in a suburb northeast of Denver on Sunday afternoon.
A 29-year-old Hispanic woman and four-month-old infant were found alive at the scene and taken to the hospital. The woman remained at the hospital to receive medical care while the baby was found in good health, police said. The child’s parents were among those found dead.
Investigators say the victims died immediately from unknowingly snorting fentanyl-laced cocaine. The bodies were found on the lying floor beside a powdered substance formed in lines on a mirror, reported the Colorado Sun.
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“It appears they ingested fentanyl,” District Attorney Brian Mason told Fox 31. “Fentanyl is not typically something that a user would ingest in a line. So, I think they probably thought they were taking cocaine.”
Commerce City police Chief Clint Nichols said if the drugs were in fact the cause of death, “they were really bad — no one was able to get to a phone and call 911 — it happened quickly.”
Firefighters on scene ruled out gas leak as the cause of death.
Celina Fisher, who lost her brother and in-laws in the tragedy, said she was at work on Sunday afternoon when her mom called and asked Fisher to check on her younger siblings, who weren’t answering their phones as they typically would.
“I called 911 when I got in that apartment and I screamed,” Fisher said on Wednesday. “My sister was on the floor, too, and she sat up and I am so thankful, I thank God for that. I tried to wake the rest up and nothing, there was no response.”
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I think they probably thought they were taking cocaine
After Fisher tried in vain to wake her brother and sister-in-law, she made her way around the unit until she found her niece, Aria Marquez.
“I didn’t know the baby was in the apartment and when I went in the room, I found her,” she said. “She was OK, she was awake, crying a little bit.”
She said the baby is now with family, who are determined to raise her and tell her how special her parents were.
His son Sabas “loved his daughter,” Dan Marquez noted. “He said, ‘that’s the new love of my life’.”
Police say the infant’s mother, Karina, “also leaves behind an older son Josiah, who was born during another relationship and appeared in many family photos,” Daily Mail reports.
“This is the nightmare scenario,” said Mason. “This is five people dying without realizing the drug they’re putting into their bodies.”
An investigation to establish the source of the drugs is being conducted by CCPD, the North Metro Drug Enforcement Task Force and the DA’s office
Denver had 210 fentanyl overdoses in 2021, compared to 159 in 2020 and 56 in 2019.
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