St. Paul infant’s fentanyl overdose on Christmas Day results in charges for parents

File photo police tape. (FOX 9)

Ramsey County prosecutors filed charges against two people on Thursday after their infant died from fentanyl toxicity on Christmas Day

Jasmine Ryan, 32, and Jeffrey Weidell, 38, are both facing one count of second-degree manslaughter in connection to the death of their 18-month-old son. 

Investigation of child’s death 

What we know:

According to the criminal complaint, officers responded around 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 25 to the report of a 1-year-old child who was found unresponsive on 5th Street East near Earl Street in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood. 

At the scene, officers found Ryan performing CPR on the child, identified in the complaint as JJW, who was unconscious and not breathing. Officers took over CPR and asked if the child had ingested anything, to which Ryan responded, "fentanyl," adding she administered Narcan before police arrived.

According to the complaint, law enforcement ordered everyone out of the house to prevent further fentanyl exposure. An officer who removed one of the children described picking the girl up from a chair and seeing a "piece of tinfoil with residue on it where the girl had been." 

Another officer who picked up a 1-month-old from a crib described the boy as having "white substance on his forehead and a very old and soiled diaper," charges read. 

The three children were transported to the hospital, where JJW was later pronounced dead. The medical examiner determined his cause of death as fentanyl toxicity. 

The charging documents state child protection services were also involved because the 1-month-old tested positive for fentanyl when he was born in November 2024. The two children have since been placed under child protection.

Parents speak to investigators 

Dig deeper:

Weidell allegedly told investigators he was resting with his daughter on Christmas morning while JJW was running around and playing. When he woke up, he claimed his son wasn’t responding, and they called 911. 

Law enforcement later conducted a search of the house and reported finding burned tinfoil and straws in the living room which tested positive for fentanyl. 

What's next:

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office said a warrant has been issued for Weidell’s arrest. Charging documents note Weidell has nine prior felony convictions, and he was most recently charged in December with felony theft for allegedly stealing nearly $850 worth of items from Walmart.

Ryan made her first court appearance on the manslaughter charge Thursday morning, where a judge set her bond at $1 million. She has been in custody since Jan. 15 on a DWI-related charge, according to court records.

The Source: Court documents filed in Ramsey County.

Crime and Public SafetySt. Paul