Georgia Mother, Aunt Accused of Murder in Baby’s Fentanyl Death Columbia County Sheriff’s Office

A mother and aunt in Columbia County, Georgia, are facing charges of murder in the second degree after an infant died of fentanyl poisoning, according to authorities. 

Investigators responded to a home on the 2400 block of Appling Drive on February 29 to reports of an unresponsive 13-month-old, WJBF reported. The child’s mother, Mitra Ellzey, told deputies her baby was not breathing. 

Ellzey told deputies she had spent that evening cleaning the house of her aunt, Deangela Belton, while her baby crawled on the floor in the kitchen, according to the incident report. 

“After everyone went to bed, she woke up to check on [the baby] and found her lying face down on her stomach, not breathing. After trying to wake the child up, she called 911,” according to the report. “Investigators asked if [the baby] may have gotten into any cleaning chemicals while on the floor, to which Ellzey told them that [the baby] had some white powder on her hands but she thought it was dust from the bottom of the cabinets.”

EMS transported the baby to the Augusta University Hospital, although the baby did not survive. A later toxicology report revealed that the baby died from exposure to fentanyl and Xylazine. 

Investigators discovered that Ellzey and Belton were both responsible for bringing the drugs into the home, according to the report. Ellzey was arrested, and Belton was already in custody for other charges.

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