Detectives are investigating the suspicious death of a toddler who is believed to have been exposed to fentanyl at an Everett hotel, officials said.
The 1-year-old girl was taken Sunday to Swedish medical center in Mill Creek, where she later died, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies were sent to the hospital after a staff member reported the unresponsive child, who had been taken in by her mother, Sheriff's Office spokesperson Courtney O'Keefe said.
Detectives believe the girl was exposed to fentanyl over the weekend inside a hotel room, according to the Sheriff's Office. The girl's mother, 37, and at least one other person, a man, were in the room where fentanyl was smoked, O'Keefe said.
It was unclear Wednesday how the girl potentially ingested the fentanyl. An investigation is ongoing, O'Keefe said, and toxicology reports are still pending. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office will determine the child's official cause and manner of death.
Indirect fentanyl exposure presents low risk to others, public health experts say.
Someone smoking fentanyl will have already filtered most of the drug out before they exhale secondhand smoke, according to Public Health — Seattle & King County. Several studies looking into fentanyl concentrations in the bloodstream after someone experienced secondhand exposure point to drug levels being extremely low or undetectable, according to the health agency.
Police arrested the girl's mother Sunday on an unrelated, outstanding domestic-violence warrant from the Edmonds Police Department. She was booked into the Snohomish County Jail.
