Va. parents charged after 2-year-old dies of fentanyl and xylazine overdose

YORK COUNTY, Va. (TCD) -- Two parents who were already in custody for the death of their 2-year-old daughter had their charges upgraded to homicide after medical examiners reportedly found that the child died from a drug overdose.

According to a news release from the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office, on July 7, deputies responded to a home on the 100 block of Aberfeldy Way to a report of an unresponsive child. At the scene, medics reportedly determined the 2-year-old was deceased.

Initially, the Sheriff’s Office said the parents, Anna Raines and Jesse Gunn, were charged with felony child neglect.

The criminal complaint obtained by WVEC-TV alleges that the home was unkempt, and investigators located "suspected heroin" in the child’s diaper bag. Authorities reportedly found a bin of syringes as well. Cigarette butts were allegedly along the bedroom where Raines, Gunn, and their child slept, and some cigarette butts were in the victim’s crib, along with urine-soaked blankets.

Maj. Ron Montgomery with the Sheriff’s Office told WVEC, "The living conditions this child was found to be in is the whole basis of the felony child neglect. ... So, it was pretty bad."

According to WVEC, Raines told authorities she had taken opioids and other drugs that week, and she made conflicting statements about when she last saw her daughter alive.

Raines and Gunn were reportedly living with Raines’ father. Nearly 20 days after the child was found, on July 28, the Sheriff’s Office announced that Timothy Raines, Anna Raines’ father, was also arrested for felony child neglect.

On Oct. 13, the Sheriff’s Office said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed the child’s cause of death as "Acute combined fentanyl and Xylazine overdose in addition to nicotine exposure; Laboratory evidence of SARS-Covid 19 Infection."

The parents’ charges were upgraded to homicide, and they remain held at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail, records show.

MORE:

• Additional Charges in the Death of a Child - Felony Homicide - York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office
• UPDATE - Additional Arrest Made for Felony Child Neglect, 7/28/22 - York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office
• Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail Records
• Third person charged in death of 2-year-old girl in York County, 7/12/22 - WVEC