The father of a 22-month-old Manhattan boy who had fentanyl and cocaine in his system when he died in June has been arrested, the NYPD said Wednesday.
Sources say the child’s mother was giving birth to another child at the hospital when the father brought their 22-month-old home to rest but the toddler somehow ingested a deadly dose of fentanyl and cocaine. After more than 5 months, investigators arrested the toddler’s father in the child’s death.
Anthony Rosa, the 51-year-old father to baby Charles Rosa-Velloso, was charged with reckless manslaughter. Information on an attorney for him wasn't clear.
Rosa has a long criminal history records show. Since 1990, he’s had 19 arrests—many of them for drug related charges.
Officials had said Rosa-Velloso was found unconscious, face down on a bed in his Manhattan apartment, when officers responded to a 911 call shortly after 4 a.m. on June 17. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators ruled the toddler's death a homicide. The medical examiner determined the toddler died of acute intoxication—from fentanyl and cocaine in his system. It’s unclear how the child ingested the drugs.
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Rosa-Velloso's death came more than two years after a 1-year-old boy in the Bronx died of similar drug-induced causes. In that December 2018 case, investigators found baby Darwin Gonzalez-Santana had ingested fentanyl and heroin.
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He was found dead in a cab two days after Christmas that year. His mother was later charged with murder.
