A 35-year-old Boston woman is facing a manslaughter charge after her 4-year-old daughter died in August from ingesting fentanyl. Dayanna Familia was arrested over the weekend by Boston police and was scheduled to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on Monday.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, Familia's daughter, Liyanna Bautista Familia, died on August 18 as a result of ingesting fentanyl. The case was reported by WCVB, which confirmed Familia's arrest and the scheduled Monday arraignment on the manslaughter charge tied to her daughter's death.
What Happened to Liyanna
Liyanna was 4 years old at the time of her death on August 18. The station's report does not detail how the child came into contact with the drug, and no additional information about the circumstances of her death has been made public.
Familia, who lives in Boston, was taken into custody over the weekend, more than two months after her daughter's death. The outcome of Monday's scheduled arraignment, including any plea or bail determination, has not been confirmed.
Fentanyl's Toll on Young Children
Cases involving young children and fentanyl exposure have drawn growing national attention. A study found that between 2018 and 2021, fentanyl-related deaths among children younger than 5 increased nearly sixfold, while deaths among adolescents rose nearly threefold over the same period.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has separately warned that accidental exposure to fentanyl patches can be deadly for children, advising parents and caregivers to call 911 and seek emergency medical help immediately if a child may have been exposed to a fentanyl patch. Massachusetts' own opioid data underscore how difficult these risks can be to track: the state's 2024 opioid-involved overdose report, compiled by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, notes that the exact number of people at risk for opioid-involved overdose death is not known, since some at-risk individuals are never diagnosed.
Similar Cases Elsewhere
Familia's case is not an isolated one nationally. In Florida, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against a Miami man in connection with the fentanyl-overdose death of an 18-month-old child, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
What Familia Could Face
Under Massachusetts law, manslaughter can carry a sentence of up to 20 years in state prison, or alternatively a fine of up to $1,000 combined with jail or house-of-correction time, according to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265, Section 13. That statutory range represents only the maximum penalty allowed by law and does not indicate what sentence, if any, would apply in Familia's case.
No further details about the specific allegations against Familia, including what prosecutors allege led to her daughter's exposure to fentanyl, have been disclosed. Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available.
