A Seattle mother has been charged with manslaughter after her 11-month-old son died of a fentanyl overdose in 2024, after state child protection workers were alerted to drug use concerns in the home.
According to charging documents in King County Superior Court, Safarah Rotaya Red, 33, initially told investigators that a man forced a “white substance that tasted like fentanyl” into her mouth at a south Seattle light rail station and that her infant may have been exposed as well. Investigators say that account was false and allege Red was a known fentanyl user who had previously been investigated by the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) for drug use around her baby.
“The defendant had access to services and yet still placed such a vulnerable victim in a dangerous position where they were able to obtain deadly narcotic,” Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Logan Bryant wrote in a bail request filed March 12. “Records reveal the defendant tested positive for fentanyl at least four times and would continue to deny such use to their DCYF social worker … the defendant was told about the dangers of fentanyl around children and yet disregarded that information.”…