The parents of a Ferndale 5-year-old who died in March 2023 after ingesting fentanyl have pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges.
Olivia R. Doane died March 8, 2023 from acute fentanyl intoxication. The Whatcom County Medical Examiner's Office ruled in early May 2023 that the girl's manner of death was undetermined.
"Undetermined" is used as a classification when the information pointing toward a manner of death is no more compelling than any others, such as homicide, accidental or suicide, Deborah Hollis, chief investigator and operations manager with the county medical examiner's office, previously told The Bellingham Herald.
Prosecutors charged the girl's biological parents, Melissa Ann Welch, 36, and Michael Wayne Doane, 34, both of Ferndale, and Welch's boyfriend, Cody Curtis Craig, 33, of Bellingham, with one count each of first-degree murder April 7, 2023 in Whatcom County Superior Court for their alleged roles in the child's death.
Each were charged under the first-degree murder prong that stated they acted "under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life." Each of their murder charges included an aggravating factor that stated Welch, Doane and Craig knew or should have known that the child was particularly vulnerable, according to court records.
They have all been incarcerated in the downtown Whatcom County Jail since their respective arrests. Bail was originally set at $1 million each, but court records show Doane's was reduced to $500,000 in early June 2023.
Welch and Craig were also charged in separate cases following the child's death, in which they were both accused of continuing to sell narcotics five days after the 5-year-old's death. Craig is accused of being connected to a large-scale drug trafficker, while Welch is alleged to have been the contact person and provided a location for one of the drug deliveries, The Herald previously reported.
Prosecutors also filed an additional charge July 8 of this year of first-degree manslaughter against Doane, whom they allege was operating a drug house where controlled substances were "frequently and routinely" left out and available to children, including the deceased girl and her 8-year-old sister, court documents show.
On July 11, Welch pleaded guilty to an amended charge of second-degree manslaughter for her daughter's death as part of an agreed plea deal between the prosecuting and defense attorneys. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss Welch's drug-trafficking case and lower her charges in the murder case, in exchange for her guilty plea and her testimony at trial against Doane, court records state.
She is expected to be sentenced Aug. 15 in the manslaughter case. Prosecutors are expected to recommend an agreed-upon sentence of three years, four months in prison, with 1.5 years of probation, court records show.
On Thursday, July 25, Doane also pleaded guilty to an amended charge of second-degree manslaughter for his daughter's death. The reduction in charges is part of an agreed plea deal between the prosecuting and defense attorneys.
Doane is expected to be sentenced Monday, July 29. Prosecutors are expected to recommend a sentence of four years in prison, with 1.5 years probation.
Craig is expected to enter guilty pleas in his drug-trafficking case on Thursday, Aug. 1, in exchange for the dismissal of his murder case, prosecutors announced in court Thursday.
All three of their guilty pleas come just days before their cases were expected to head to trial. A joint jury trial for all three had originally been scheduled to begin July 15 but was pushed following Welch's guilty plea on July 11. Craig and Doane were expected to head to trial on Monday, July 29.
All three will remain incarcerated until their respective sentencing hearings.
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