NY parents charged in death of toddler who found stash of cocaine, fentanyl and morphine: DA
A Long Island couple was indicted Thursday after their toddler died from ingesting a cocktail of cocaine, fentanyl, morphine and other drugs his parents had stashed, prosecutors said.
Wilkens Adonis and Daryllee Leibrock, both 38, allegedly had a slew of drugs and a cache of weapons in their Holbrook home when homicide squad detectives raided it on Jan. 3, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement.
Cops went to the residence that morning because someone had called 911 and reported a child had fallen unconscious, the statement said.
When police arrived, they found little Joseph Adonis, just 14 months old, unresponsive in his parents’ bedroom.
Authorities rushed him to Stony Brook University Hospital, but the boy didn’t make it.
Detectives later found an eighth-ounce mixture of heroin and fentanyl and the same amount of cocaine — as well as alprazolam, drug packaging materials and two digital scales used to weigh drugs, Tierney said.
“The death of a toddler from a suspected overdose of poisonous drugs is an unfortunate, but not
unexpected, next step in the opioid overdose crisis, and should be a wake-up call to our Albany
legislators that decisive action must happen now,” Tierney said in the statement.
“Children are dying,” he continued. “I urge every New Yorker to contact your legislators and demand that they address this crisis.”
Police also allegedly found a stun gun, a loaded shotgun and a rifle — all of which were lying around, easily accessible to Joseph and their 11-year-old child, who also lived there.
Authorities hit the couple with a litany of charges, including criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon, endangering the welfare of a child and other related offenses, the statement said.
Both had failure to appear warrants because they missed court dates for misdemeanor drug charges, Tierney added.
And both remain in jail — Adonis because of his open warrant and Leibrock for criminal contempt, as she violated a restraining order that was supposed to bar her from being around either child.
The judge set Leibrock’s bail at $250,000 cash, $500,000 bond, or $2.5 million partially secured bond.
Matthew Tuohy, Adonis’ Huntington attorney, told The Post Thursday evening that his client is maintaining his innocence — Adonis was doing well in his recovery, but the child’s mother had a “bad drug problem” and had a warrant out for her arrest.
“He didn’t know of any paraphernalia in the house, he actually consented to the police search,” Tuohy said. “He was doing well, and the family court was monitoring him aggressively.
“She was situated very differently,” he continued. “There were a lot of moving parts there, a lot of people coming and going and staying there … He’s maintaining his innocence in terms of the obviously terrible tragedy with the child.”
Steve Fondulis, Leibrock’s Port Jefferson attorney, did not respond to a call seeking comment.
Their next court date is Feb. 29.
