A 36-year-old woman pleaded guilty last week to second-degree manslaughter domestic violence for causing the death of her 3-year-old daughter in 2022 when she left fentanyl out in her Kent apartment that the girl ingested.
Carolyn D. Franklin entered the guilty plea June 5 in King County Superior Court, according to court documents. Her trial was scheduled to start this summer.
“On Nov. 4, 2022, I did with criminal negligence cause the death of my daughter (age 3), who died on Nov. 4, 2022,” Franklin wrote on her plea of guilty statement. “Specifically, I did negligently leave fentanyl (a potentially lethal drug) out where (she) could access it, and without my knowledge it was ingested by (her) which resulted in her death.”
As part of the plea agreement, King County prosecutors reduced the original charge of first-degree manslaughter and dropped a reckless endangerment charge. Prosecutors and Franklin’s defense also agreed to recommend to a judge a sentence of 27 months, according to court documents. The defense may argue for a Parenting Offender Sentencing Alternative, but prosecutors will ask the court to impose a term of confinement for 27 months.
A sentencing date has not yet been set. Franklin remains on electronic home detention after posting bail, which a judge set at $100,000.
Jamel L. Prater, the father of the girl, also was at the Kent apartment on Nov. 4, 2022. Prosecutors charged Prater in 2022 with reckless endangerment domestic violence. A jury, however, found Prater not guilty on Nov. 15, 2024, according to court documents.
The incident
Kent Police responded at about 1:06 p.m. Nov. 4, 2022 to a CPR in progress call at an apartment in the 10600 block of SE 252nd St., according to charging documents.
Franklin called 911 to report she found her 3-year-old daughter unconscious and unresponsive in the bedroom. Officers who arrived found Franklin providing chest compressions to the girl in the hallway just beyond the front door. One of the officers took over CPR and noticed the girl was cold to the touch and her body was stiff consistent with rigor mortis, according to charging papers.
The officer continued CPR until Puget Sound Fire personnel arrived and soon determined the girl had died and ceased lifesaving efforts.
Franklin told an officer she last saw her daughter conscious at about 2 that morning. She said her daughter woke up in the middle of the night, so she gave her some water and chips. Franklin said she then laid back down to go back to sleep.. She said herself, her daughter, Prater and her two young sons were all asleep in one bedroom of the two-bedroom apartment.
Franklin said she woke up at about 10 a.m. Her daughter had not woken up, so she checked on her about 1 p.m. and noticed her body temperature was cold so she asked Prater to call 911 and began performing CPR.
A detective arrived at the apartment to begin an investigation and was informed by a sergeant that state Child Protective Services had taken the children into protective custody in 2019 for drug use by Franklin. The detective noticed a foul stench of mold, rotting food, stale urine and animal feces in the apartment. A child toilet in the living room was filled with dark brown urine. A cat liter box in the kitchen had not been cleaned in many days. Cockroaches were moving through dishes piled up in the sink.
Detectives interviewed Franklin who said she previously was a habitual user of heroin and meth but hadn’t used any controlled substances in over a year. Prater told detectives he used marijuana and drinks alcohol but is not a controlled substance user. He said he was playing video games with a headset on from morning until Franklin frantically asked him to call 911 because the 3-year-old girl was unresponsive.
Detectives searched the apartment and found drug paraphernalia including used burnt aluminum foil, smoking devices referred to as “tooters,” suspected fentanyl pills and various other pills that later tested positive for meth and ecstasy.
During a second interview with detectives, Franklin was told they had found fentanyl pills and other drug paraphernalia. Franklin admitted to recently relapsing to her addiction and using about four fentanyl pills per week. She said she uses foil and a “tooter” to smoke the pills. She said she last used at about 11 that morning.
The 3-year-old girl died from acute fentanyl intoxication, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. A total of 35 nanograms per milliliter of fentanyl was found in the girl’s blood sample, according to the toxicology report. The report noted that in fatalities from fentanyl, blood concentrations are variable and have been reported as low as 3 nanograms per milliter.
Detectives arrested Franklin and Prater based on the living conditions inside the apartment, the amount of drug paraphernalia inside and readily available to the children and acute fentanyl intoxication causing the death of the 3-year-old girl.
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