PHOENIX — A member of the Salt River-Pima Maricopa Indian Community was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison after her 18-month-old baby died of a fentanyl overdose.
Sarah Caitlin Burnette, 23, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in federal court after her baby boy died of fentanyl toxicity on Feb. 27, 2021.
According to the defendant's plea agreement, Burnette admitted to buying multiple fentanyl pills on Feb. 23, 2021 and went on a four-day drug binge inside a hotel room with her two young sons.
On Feb. 27, the defendant woke up to find her youngest child cold and stiff, court records show.
Burnette disclosed in her plea agreement that she had previously lost friends to fentanyl overdoses, including the father of her 18-month-old son.
"In sum, I smoked fentanyl to the point of passing out, and left both of my sons unattended with fentanyl," the plea deal states.
Criminal charges were filed against Burnette in October 2021 after investigators determined she had exposed her sons to the deadly drug.
Overdose death rates in tribal communities have been escalating in recent years.
According to the Indian Health Service, the American Indian and Alaska Native populations reported having the "highest drug overdose death rates in both 2020 and 2021."
The per capita overdose death rate for Indigenous communities increased by 33% between 2020 and 2021.
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