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At 17 months old, Justin Brie should have been safe last year when she fell asleep on the sofa next to her grandfather in her Lancaster apartment.
However, the boy never woke up from a Sunday afternoon nap. His grandfather, 74-year-old Jesse Milton Darsard, admitted to sucking fentanyl from a glass pipe next to the boy and then falling asleep, court records say.
Paramedics discovered that the child was not responding, and medical examiners later determined he had an overdose.
The coroner’s report found Justin’s death to be a coincidence, but LA County prosecutors are pursuing murder charges against Darthard and the juvenile’s mother, claiming they are responsible.
Justin Bree passed away from fentanyl exposure last 17 months.
(Montisbury)
Prosecutors have previously treated overdose deaths as murder, but cases involving babies are rare. According to Jonathan Hatami, an aide to the LA County District Attorney’s Office’s Complex Child Abuse Unit, LA County authorities have only ever filed a murder charge against a parent whose drug use had fatal consequences for a child.
At least 11 children under the age of five suffered fentanyl-related deaths in California in 2023, according to the state health department. Prosecutors from several other counties began to bring similar charges to those filed in the Darthard case.
Authorities say they believe tactics can provide a pathway to future tragedy and reckless parents accountable.
“Fentanyl is like a loaded gun. If you leave a loaded gun in your home, it’s not properly locked up and you have a child, the child should grab the gun that loaded it, and the parent should take responsibility,” said Hatami. “It’s a conscious ignorance of the safety of others.”
This case highlights a new legal approach defended by both Hatami and Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochmann, but it also raised questions once again about the handling of children and families in LA County, which dealt with past allegations of abuse and neglect before the child died.
Last year’s investigation revealed that DCFS launched four lawsuits from 2012 against the boy’s mother Jessica Darthard.
Police and social workers report that Jessica Darthard also fell into a drunken driving car crash on the 405 highway six months before Justin’s death. The boy was not troubled by the back seat at the time, and his mother’s blood alcohol concentration was three times the legal limit, according to these documents. Hatami reviewed the details of the crash earlier this week.
As a result, Jessica was restricted to monitored visits, but under the DCFS policy she was allowed to select family friends to act as monitors, in contrast to independent observers cited by the court.
That monitor, Secret Daniel, is charged with several counts of child abuse in the same case. There were five children in the house when Justin died – including three secret children – and all their urine was positive for fentanyl, which, according to Khatami, suggested that they inhaled it beforehand.
Secret left the house and released the children while she was supposed to keep an eye on them, Khatami said.
“I think it’s probably not a good idea to do something like this to a friend,” he said. “Friends will lie for you… when you’re doing it, you put your kids in danger.”
A DCFS spokesperson declined to comment and referred the Times Reporter to the agency’s policy on visit monitors. Family friends are supposed to perform background checks before being approved as monitors in accordance with the policy, but it is not clear which factors will disqualify anyone. A DCFS spokesperson wouldn’t say that a review was made in Daniel’s case.
Jessica Darthard and Daniel’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.
Jonathan Evans, Jesse Darthard’s attorney, said the court would determine liability for the case.
“Justin’s death was tragic. No one knows how he ingested fentanyl. It will be decided in time whether it will rise to murder levels,” Evans said. “My heart is directed at Justin’s dad and everyone who loved him.”
Jesse Darthard admitted to having fentanyl in his pocket when he fell asleep next to his grandson, and said the boy “must have reached it,” according to testimony given by a DCFS employee at a preliminary hearing at Antelope Valley Court this week.
The preliminary hearing is expected to be concluded in mid-April. If the judge holds the defendant to answer the murder charge, they proceed to trial.
Justin Bree’s father, Montis Valley, places flowers at the grave of Inglewood’s son.
(Zoe Cranfill/Los Angeles Times)
Justin’s father, Montis Brie, wore a shirt in court on Wednesday, showing the image of him bringing the baby closer. The father and son can be seen flashing high beam smiles in the photos, but in court, the 52-year-old struggled to control his emotions as the witnesses testified about his son’s death.
Brie said he is furious with the DCF and the court system for allowing his ex-girlfriend and her father – court records have a history of substance abuse and were known to local Sheriff’s Bureau investigators as “Pop.”
Brie said she took parenting and anger management classes in the hopes of getting full custody for Justin.
But standing in the court car park this week, all he could do was shook his head and punch the car window, thinking about what had been taken from him.
“He was hilarious, man. He was beautiful,” Brie said of his son. “[He was] My turning point, why am I changing my life? ”
Times staff writers Rebecca Ellis and Melissa Gomez contributed to this report.
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