SANTA CRUZ — A 38-year-old Scotts Valley mother is facing criminal neglect charges after her 18-month-old baby died of a possible fentanyl overdose over the weekend, officials said Wednesday.
Korisa Woll appeared Wednesday before Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Denine Guy for her initial arraignment, which ultimately was delayed until next week. Woll, who was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on Monday and remained held without bail, has been charged with two counts of felony child endangerment, one with an enhancement for great bodily injury to a child younger than 5 years old, plus an additional misdemeanor for evidence destruction.
Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Kristal Salcido described the case’s investigation as “extraordinarily active right now and ongoing.”
The Santa Cruz toddler’s death is the fifth child fentanyl death since 2020 in the greater Bay Area. Prosecutors from Livermore, Fremont and San Jose have charged parents with various crimes, including involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and murder. Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin.
In San Jose, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen charged the parents of baby Winter Rayo, and the parents’ roommates, with murder over the death last August of the 19-month-old. Investigators found evidence in text messages among the four of them, Rosen has said, that made it clear they knew the dangers of fentanyl and the drug was left within reach of the toddler anyway.
Salcido said the baby, who she referred to at the hearing as “Zhorriah Doe,” was found dead Sunday in a bed with her sleeping 4-year-old brother in a River Street apartment. The Santa Cruz Police Department began its investigation into the baby’s death after Woll arrived with her child at a local hospital’s emergency department Sunday afternoon, Deputy Chief Jon Bush said. In a request to the court for Woll’s bail to be increased, Santa Cruz police detective Robert Caposio wrote that Woll had taken her child “to a known drug area and a residence therein.” Woll’s alleged neglect of her child “directly led to her death,” he wrote.
Sitting shackled in the jury box with other in-custody defendants Wednesday, Woll dabbed away tears several times throughout her hearing.
Salcido said that early results from an autopsy conducted on the baby — a full toxicology report and an official cause of death determination were not yet complete — showed a “presumptive positive” for cocaine and fentanyl in her system.
The family had been recently homeless until the baby’s father, Salcido said, died of a fentanyl overdose in April. Woll took her children to live with her parents in Scotts Valley after his death until July 16, Salcido said.
Bush said that his department had additional warrants to serve and witnesses to interview and that drug overdose was one of many potential causes for the baby’s death. Further criminal charges also may be forthcoming, he said.“Obviously, it’s very tragic and we are using all of our investigative resources to figure out what happened and try and get justice for this child,” Bush said. “But there’s still a lot of unknowns and investigation to be done and hopefully we’ll have more information in the days to come. Ultimately, the mother is responsible for the safety of the child and she exposed the child to some dangerous condition that we believe contributed to the death of the child.”
During Wednesday’s hearing, Salcido successfully sought a criminal protective order barring Woll from contacting her children, including the 4-year-old and a 16-year-old daughter. In seeking the order, Salcido shared initial details of the case over the newly appointed defense counsel’s objections. Atypically, five Santa Cruz police detectives sat in the gallery through the arraignment.
Woll is scheduled to return for a further arraignment at 8:15 a.m., Aug. 7. Guy ordered that she remain held without bail at the Santa Cruz County Jail.
In San Jose, Winter Rayo’s father and two housemates will return to court Aug. 26 for continuation of a preliminary hearing after which a judge will decide whether they should be tried for murder or lesser charges over her death.
