Baby dies from fentanyl poisoning in Pennsylvania

A 7-month-old girl was found dead from fentanyl poisoning in her Pennsylvania home, authorities said Tuesday.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said tiny Zhuri Sade Bogle was discovered unconscious by her parents in their Penn Hills home after being put to bed by her grandmother on Jan. 14.

“When first responders arrived, they found Zhuri’s father performing CPR,” officials said in a statement.

“First responders took over, but at 7:05 a.m. she was pronounced deceased at the scene.

“Detectives learned Zhuri was in the care of her grandmother and grandmother’s friend the prior evening.

Zhuri was already put to bed when her parents arrived home on the evening of January 13th.”

An autopsy showed the baby died as a result of the opioid, the ME’s office said.

Detectives are now consulting with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office on whether to charge anyone, officials said.

Services for the infant were held at a Pittsburgh funeral home on Feb. 7, and she was buried at the Uniondale Cemetery.

After the infant’s death, a GoFundMe was set up to help Zhuri’s parents, Mercedes Williams and Barington Bogle Jr.

Shaunda McDill, a friend of Williams, wrote on the page, “This was a wholly unexpected and devastating occurrence that forever changed the lives of Zhuri’s parents and other loved ones.

“To bury a loved one is not an easy task; it is a strain mentally, emotionally, and financially.”

According to a new report from the Families Against Fentanyl (FAF) nonprofit group, children under the age of 14 are dying of fentanyl at a faster rate than any other age group.

The FAF looked over figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and also found that infant fentanyl death increased twice as much between 2019 and 2021, with deaths among toddlers between 1 and 4 years old more than tripling.

The fentanyl deaths among children ages 5 to 14 have quadrupled between 2019 and 2021, according to the FAF analysis.

More than 150 people die every day from overdoses involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, the CDC said.