ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A woman is facing charges after her infant daughter died from fentanyl exposure in a Castle Point home earlier this month.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office on Friday charged 32-year-old Cherelle Nolan with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The St. Louis County Police Department said officers responded at 3 p.m. on Feb. 1 to the 10400 block of Count Drive after 1-year-old Harmony Baker became unresponsive and stopped breathing. Officers began CPR on her and she was taken to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
"It was a bunch of police out here," one neighbor said. "This is my first time hearing about this."
The neighbor held back tears after 5 On Your Side's Robert Townsend told her about the baby girl's passing.
"It's just terrible. I feel sorrowful," said the woman.
A probable cause statement accused Nolan of exposing Harmony to fentanyl, leading to her death. Police said Nolan admitted she has a fentanyl addiction and is the only person in the home who uses the drug.
"That day the mom ran in the house, got her purse and the paramedics rode off with her in an ambulance," said the woman's neighbor.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "fentanyl deaths among children 14 and under are rising faster than any other, tripling nationwide from 2019 to 2021
Researchers also say during the same time, "fentanyl deaths among infants increased twice as fast as overall deaths."
"Fentanyl is about 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin and so a very small amount, if it gets into somebody's body, can be very deadly," said Stacie Zellin, the Community Education Coordinator at Prevent Ed.
The non-profit specializes in drug and alcohol overdose prevention and education.
"It's so bad and this is just a shock," said Nolan's neighbor.
A 5 On Your Side news crew stopped by Nolan's home on Friday afternoon, but no one was there.
Nolan is being held on $250,000 cash-only bond with no 10% allowed.
Detectives with the St. Louis County Police Crimes Against Persons Unit are leading the investigation.
