A Portland couple is set to learn their punishment Monday after their 15‑month‑old daughter nearly died from a fentanyl overdose last year and was revived with Narcan. The parents pleaded guilty in May and, under a plea deal, each faces 18 months in prison, five years of probation and court‑ordered treatment, with sentencing scheduled for Monday at 8:30 a.m. Prosecutors say court filings and surveillance footage provide the spine of the case.
What court records show
Court documents obtained by KATU say the investigation began on May 21, 2024, when the child was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver after being found unresponsive. Prosecutors allege she was one stage away from cardiac arrest and was revived with Narcan. According to the filings, surveillance footage reportedly shows the toddler crawl near her mother's feet, pick something up from the floor and put it in her mouth, then become “limpish” about 17 minutes later.
The same filings state that a kitchen camera captured the parents using fentanyl repeatedly, roughly 25 times in a 24‑hour period, and that the couple were initially charged on multiple assault and recklessly endangering counts, according to KATU.
Part of a larger pattern
Prosecutors say this case is one more entry in a troubling series of incidents in which young children have been harmed after gaining access to fentanyl, a pattern the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office has highlighted in recent years. Across the Columbia River, Washington saw a Kennewick case this spring in which a mother admitted leaving fentanyl within reach after her toddler nearly died and received a jail term, illustrating the range of outcomes courts are imposing around the region, as reported by the Tri-City Herald.
Legal details
Court records identify the defendants as 32‑year‑old Nicole Marie Tunthakit and 36‑year‑old Christopher Alan Tripp. The filings show both pleaded guilty on May 4 to one count of third‑degree assault and one count of first‑degree criminal mistreatment. Under the plea agreement, each faces 18 months in prison, five years of supervised probation, court‑ordered drug and alcohol treatment and parenting classes.
The records also show a judge granted a defense motion to suppress most of Tunthakit's statements following a January 2026 hearing, a development noted in filings reviewed by KATU.
The sentencing hearing set for Monday at 8:30 a.m. will formally impose those terms if the judge accepts the plea agreement as written. The case again highlights how prosecutors and courts across the metro area are treating pediatric fentanyl exposures as both criminal matters and public‑health emergencies, a point emphasized by the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office when it discussed a similar 2025 prosecution.
