3 days Ago By CITY NEWS SERVICE
LANCASTER — The mother of a 17-month-old boy who died due to fentanyl ingestion during what was supposed to be a monitored visit at a Lancaster home pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and other charges. Jessica Dominique Darthard, 39, is charged along with her father, 73-year-old Jessie Milton Darthard, who also pleaded not guilty in connection with the Feb. 18 death of the toddler, Justin Bulley.
The county Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that the boy died due to the “effects of fentanyl.’’ Evidence revealed that the boy’s maternal grandfather had “purchased fentanyl that morning, smoked it out of a glass pipe in the living room while Justin was lying next to him, fell asleep, and then woke up at 6 p.m.
with Justin B. lying on the couch next to him, unresponsive,’’ according to a motion filed by Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami, which noted that sheriff’s deputies reported that the boy’s mother had “slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and smelled of alcohol.’’ The motion alleges that Justin was among three children removed from Jessica Darthard’s custody in May 2023 after they witnessed her boyfriend’s death from a fentanyl overdose, but that she was allowed monitored visits with the children through DCFS on the weekends.
Secret Rodcliff Daniel, a 30-year-old friend of Darthard, was serving as a monitor approved by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services who was responsible for overseeing Darthard’s visits with her children, including Justin Bulley. Authorities went to the home Feb. 18 in connection with a call about an unresponsive toddler, and the boy was rushed to Antelope Valley Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the motion.
The previous day, Jessica Darthard and Daniel had collected the children at a designated pickup location, the motion states. Two of Jessica Darthard’s other children and three of Daniel’s children also subsequently tested positive for fentanyl exposure, according to the motion. Darthard, her father and Daniel were charged Sept.
26, with additional counts subsequently being added against both women. Jessica Darthard is now charged with her son’s death, along with three counts of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death involving the boy and two of her other children. She is also charged with one count of a lewd act on a child under 14 involving one of Daniel’s children and two counts of corporal injury to a child involving two of Daniel’s children.
Daniel is charged with four counts of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death — one involving Darthard’s toddler son and the other three involving three of Daniel’s own children, along two counts of corporal injury to a child involving Daniel’s own two children. Darthard and her father were arrested in October by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, while Daniel was taken into custody Nov. 20.
All three remain behind bars while awaiting a hearing Feb. 10 in a Lancaster courtroom to determine if there is enough evidence to allow the case against them to move forward to trial. Justin’s father, Montise Bulley, held a news conference in June with attorney Brian Claypool to announce a $65 million damages claim against the DCFS, saying it should have known the child was unsafe in the Lancaster home.
Claypool said the child died while his mother and her father were in the midst of a binge, and that a history of drug and other suspect activity was well-documented in the home and should have triggered the removal of Justin and his siblings from the home. “On the day of Justin’s death, mom and her father were doing drugs, alcohol and a DCFS visitation supervisor is there,’’ Claypool alleged. “This person is supposed to protect children, and she is at a home while the mother of these young kids and her father are engaging in drug activity.
’’ DCFS previously declined to comment on the case, citing the pending litigation..
