San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins charged a couple with second-degree murder Wednesday over the February fentanyl overdose death of their two-year-old daughter, the first time the city has filed a murder charge in such a case.
Jenkins announced the upgraded charges against Michelle Price, 38, and her boyfriend Steve Ramirez, 43, in connection with the death of two-year-old Stevie, who died on February 12 at a residence on the 3800 block of 18th Street. Both had already faced felony child endangerment and drug possession charges. The new murder counts also include allegations that they willfully caused harm or injury resulting in Stevie’s death.
Police responded to the 18th Street home at around 5:16 a.m. after a 911 call reporting the child wasn’t breathing. Medics pronounced Stevie dead on arrival and determined she had likely been dead for several hours, citing signs of rigor mortis and lividity, the bluish-purple discoloration of skin that sets in after circulation stops.
What officers found inside the apartment alarmed them. Court documents describe the home as a “hoarder house” littered with drug paraphernalia, including three used cylindrical pipes, lighters, and torches. A used container of Narcan and a white powder substance later identified as fentanyl were on the bed, along with bottles of spoiled milk.
The charges didn’t start here.
Jenkins said Price and Ramirez were first arrested and charged with felony child endangerment and possession of fentanyl and drug paraphernalia following Stevie’s death. Ramirez also faced additional counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting, obstructing, and delaying a peace officer. Despite prosecutors objecting, Price was released February 19 and Ramirez on February 24.
The case against both defendants runs deeper than February. As SFist reported, Stevie was born with fentanyl in her system and spent several months in intensive care after birth. Ramirez was arrested on out-of-county warrants just 11 days after Stevie was born, and San Francisco Police Department officers reportedly observed “extreme abscesses” from fentanyl use on his legs. At least four Child Protective Services cases were initiated against Price before Stevie died, according to prior reporting. Two were still open at the time of her death and involved neglect allegations. A third case had already been substantiated as neglect. The fourth, deemed inconclusive, alleged unsafe living conditions, drug exposure, and failure to supervise Stevie and another child “despite repeated intervention.”
It’s unclear whether Ramirez was Stevie’s biological father. The district attorney’s office refers to Price as Stevie’s mother and describes Price and Ramirez as a couple, and previous CPS reports were filed against Price over the quality of her care of Stevie, but not against Ramirez.
San Francisco hasn’t charged anyone with murder in a child fentanyl death before now. Jenkins has been aggressive on fentanyl enforcement since taking office, and the city’s Department of Public Health has tracked overdose fatalities closely as fentanyl drove a surge in drug deaths across the city over the past several years. Prosecuting a caregiver for murder in a toddler’s overdose death is a significant escalation, one that signals the district attorney’s office is prepared to treat fentanyl exposure of children as a homicide matter when evidence supports it.
Price was still out of custody as of the time charges were upgraded. Both defendants face second-degree murder counts in addition to the original felony charges, and prosecutors have added the willful injury allegation to both cases.