The mother of a 2-year-old girl, who died last week of suspected fentanyl poisoning, attempted to resuscitate her toddler but then ran out of the Northeast Portland home, telling a friend to call 911, according to the victim’s cousin.
The mother fled because she said she faced warrants for her arrest, the cousin said.
The friend who lived in the manufactured Fox Run home in Northeast Portland called 911 Thursday about 2:30 p.m. and performed CPR until firefighters arrived and found the girl in cardiac arrest.
The girl was rushed by ambulance to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead that afternoon.
Portland narcotics enforcement officers are continuing to search for the mother of the girl as they investigate the circumstances surrounding the toddler’s apparent drug-related death. It’s unclear how the girl came into contact with fentanyl.
Meanwhile, relatives of the toddler, who they identified as Aurora Fernandez, are posting the mother’s photo on social media, “trying to get people to keep an eye out for her,” said Isa Smith, Aurora’s cousin. Aurora’s father is Smith’s uncle.
Aurora’s parents had separated a few months earlier. Aurora usually lived with her father but was visiting her mother last week, relatives said.
Aurora was described as a happy child, smart and “super funny,” according to Smith.
“She loved sunflowers and blue flowers, kittens and dressing up as a princess,” Smith recalled. “Her favorite color was yellow.”
A family GoFundMe page to raise awareness about Aurora is titled: “A Life Taken Too Soon.’’
“We are heartbroken to share the tragic news of the loss of 2-year-old Aurora Fernandez,” it said. “Aurora brought joy and light to everyone around her and her untimely death has left a profound void in the hearts of her family and friends.”
Another cousin of the young victim, Dominique Hodges, wrote on the fundraising page that the family wants “to honor Aurora’s memory while raising awareness about the devastating impact of fentanyl and the importance of addressing substance abuse.”
The toddler’s 26-year-old mother, Mary Elizabeth Jacobo, has two older children.
She also has two pending arrest warrants.
At the start of this year, a warrant in Multnomah County was issued when Jacobo failed to report weekly to pretrial services following her release from custody in early October on multiple charges, including felon in possession of a firearm, unauthorized use of a vehicles, possession of a stolen vehicle, reckless driving and failure to perform the duties of a driver.
She was accused of eluding police in a U-Haul pickup truck in June, continuing to drive on it with deflated tires before crashing it in Southeast Portland. Police said she ran from the truck and was stopped when she tried to hide in an apartment. A black backpack she had dropped contained a loaded handgun, police said. Upon arrest, Jacobo told officers she had swallowed “dope,” and was taken to a hospital before she was booked into jail, according to a probable cause affidavit.
In 2022, the mother was questioned by police outside a Gresham market, admitted she didn’t have her driver’s license and attempted to run from officers but was stopped. Police found a single 9mm round on her during a search and a black handgun on the backseat floorboard of the Honda Civic she was driving, according to a probable cause affidavit. In that case, a warrant for her arrest was issued in February of this year when she failed to appear in court on allegations of being a felon with a gun and resisting arrest, according to court records. She also has an unlawful possession of a firearm conviction from Washington state.
The toddler most recently had been living with her father, Jacob Anthony Fernandez, 47, because her mother was in and out of jail, according to his relatives. The mother had been staying at a manufactured home in the Fox Run complex for about five to six months, according to the relatives.
Detectives last week said they had spoken with numerous adults in the girl’s life but wanted to speak with her mother “who left the home as this incident was initially unfolding.”
Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact Detective Jason Koenig at Jason.Koenig@police.portlandoregon.gov, or 503-823-0889 and reference Case No. 24-233352.
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