Infant Dies After Overdose Death, Parents Charged: Sarasota Sheriff

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL - The parents of an 8-month-old girl who died of a fentanyl overdose at the end of May face charges related to her death, according to a Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Nicholas and Carissa Alexander are each charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and are being held without bond at the Sarasota County Correctional Facility.

Deputies responded to the child’s death at a home in the area of I-75 and Bee Ridge Road just after 5 p.m. on May 31, the sheriff’s office said.

The infant was found unresponsive and brought to Doctors Hospital by her father, Nicholas, and a friend, who drove them.

Deputies determined that the girl had been in the care of her mother, Carissa Alexander, when she was found face-down on couch cushions inside the home, the agency said.

Further investigation determined the infant had not been checked on from 10:30 a.m. to approximately 4:45 p.m. when Nicholas returned from work later that day.

Nicholas and Carissa Alexander were detained, and search warrants were executed for blood and urine samples because they both showed signs of impairment during questioning, the sheriff’s office said.

An autopsy showed that the girl had been dead for several hours and tested positive for lethal amounts of fentanyl.