At 17 months old, Justin Bulley should have been safe when he fell asleep on a sofa next to his grandfather in an apartment in Lancaster last year.
But the little boy never woke up from Sunday afternoon nap. His grandfather, Jesse Milton Darkard, 74, admitted to having smoked the fentanyl of a glass pipe next to the boy, then falling asleep, according to the judicial archives.
Paramedical paramedics found that the child did not respond and a medical examiner later ruled that he had overdose.
A Coroner’s report determined that Justin’s death was accidental, but the county prosecutors of the murder against Darkard and the boy’s mother, arguing that they were responsible.
Justin Bulley died from the Fentanyl exhibition last year at 17 months.
(Montise Bulley)
Although prosecutors have already dealt with overdose deaths as homicides, a case involving a baby is rare. Only once before, the county authorities have deposited accusations of murder against parents or tutors whose drug consumption has had fatal consequences for children, according to Jonathan Hatami, the deputy chief of the complex unit of mistreatment of children in the office of the District County.
At least 11 children under the age of 5 have undergone death -related deaths in California in 2023, according to the State Health Department. Prosecutors of certain other counties began to bring charges similar to those deposited in the Darkard case.
The authorities say they believe that tactics could provide a path to hold the reckless parents responsible in future tragedies.
“Fentanyl is a bit like a loaded pistol. If you leave a pistol loaded in your home and it is not locked up properly and you have children, and a child takes hand on this charged pistol and is pulled themselves, the parent should be responsible,” said Hatami. “It is a conscious contempt for the safety of others.”
The case highlights a new legal approach defended both by Hatami and DIST. Atty. Nathan Hochman, but he also raised questions in the Department of Children’s County and Family Services from previous allegations of abuse and negligence before the death of a child.
Last year, an investigation revealed that the DCFS had opened business against the boy’s mother, Jessica Darkard, four times since 2012. Darkard lost custody of Justin after the death of her boyfriend of the time of a fentanyl overdose while his children were at home in 2023.
Police and social workers have shown that Jessica Darkard also had a driving car accident on the 405 highway six months before Justin’s death. The boy was unclogged on the rear seat at the time, and his mother’s alcohol level was three times the legal limit, according to these documents. Hatami confirmed the details of the accident earlier this week.
Consequently, Jessica was limited to supervised visits, but under DCFS policy, she was authorized to choose a family friend to serve as a monitor, as opposed to the independent observer appointed by the court.
This instructor, Secret Daniel, is now accused of several childhood mistreatment leaders in the same case. There were five other children in the house at the time that Justin died – including three of the children of Secret – and all their urine were tested positive for fentanyl, suggesting that they were used, according to Hatami.
Secret left the house and left the children alone when she was supposed to monitor them, said Hatami.
“I think that having friends do this kind of thing is probably not a good idea,” he said. “Friends will lie for you … you put children in danger when you do this.”
A spokesperson for the DCFS refused to comment and referred a journalist to the agency’s policy on visiting instructors. Family friends are supposed to go through history checks before being approved as monitors, according to politics, but it is not clear what factors would disqualify someone. The DCFS spokesperson would not say, what happens if, a review was made in the case of Daniel.
Jessica Darkard and Daniel’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comments.
Jonathan Evans, lawyer for Jesse Darkard, said the court would decide on responsibility in the case.
“Justin’s death was tragic. No one knows how he ingested fentanyl. The question of whether it increases at the murder will be determined in due course,” said Evans. “My heart goes to Justin’s father and all those who loved him.”
Jesse Darthard admitted to having fentanyl in his pocket when he fell asleep next to his grandson and said that the boy “had to get there”, according to the testimony given by an employee of the DCFS during a preliminary hearing in the courthouse of Antelope Valley this week.
The preliminary hearing should end in mid-April. If a judge awaits the accused to answer the accusations of murder, he will perform.
Montise Bulley, father of Justin Bullley, puts flowers on his son’s grave in Inglewood.
(Zoe Cranfill / Los Angeles Times)
Montise Bulley, Justin’s father, was in court on Wednesday with a shirt framing an image of him holding his baby. The father and the son can be seen flashing in bundle smiles in the photo, but in court, the 52 -year -old man had trouble controlling his emotions while witnesses pronounced testimonies on the death of his son.
Bulley said he was furious against the DCFS and the judicial system for authorizing his ex -girlfriend and his father – who show that judicial files have a history of drug abuses and were known to investigators from the local sheriff department as “pops” – anywhere near his son.
Bulley said he had taken parental management and anger lessons in the hope of taking care of Justin.
But standing in the parking lot of the courthouse this week, everything he could do was to shake his head and hit the window of his car thinking about what had been taken.
“He was sparkling, guy. He was beautiful,” said Bulley about his son. “(He was) my turning point, why I change my life.”
The staff editors Rebecca Ellis and Melissa Gomez contributed to this report.
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