Man, woman charged after 2-year-old overdoses on fentanyl near Loon Lake

A man and woman have been charged with child assault and abandonment nearly two years after a 2-year-old girl overdosed on fentanyl inside their Loon Lake residence.

Drugs and paraphernalia were found throughout the house, according to court documents. The toddler survived.

Briana M. Smutz, 32, was arrested Wednesday in Millwood by Spokane Valley police detectives and members of the U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, according to a U.S. Marshals Service news release. The Stevens County Sheriff’s Office Proactive Narcotic Enforcement Task Force identified her location the previous day, allowing law enforcement officers to coordinate the arrest.

Smutz and Michael A. Fixel, 54, were charged with suspicion of third-degree child assault, first-degree abandonment of a dependent person and violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act – possession with intent to delivery fentanyl.

Smutz is the mother of the 2-year-old and court documents did not clearly indicate Fixel’s relationship with the child. County officials did not immediately respond for comment.

The charges stem from the night of Dec. 10, 2023, when Fixel reported the “baby got into fentanyl pills” and “was only touching them,” but “didn’t ingest any” at his home at 4030 State Highway 292, according to court documents.

Emergency medical technicians treated the toddler in the driveway of the home, including giving her naloxone, a potentially lifesaving medication used to reverse an opioid overdose.

By the time deputies arrived at the house, she was being taken by ambulance to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. Deputies were told by first responders at the home that Smutz was following the ambulance.

However, detectives never found Smutz nor knew how to contact her, according to court documents. Fixel’s whereabouts were unknown and investigators did not have a working phone number for him.

Deputies doing a security sweep of the home at the time reported using stun guns on two aggressive dogs, a pit bull and a “mixed breed dog,” that were fighting inside the home and did not listen to commands to stop. The two dogs and a third dog ran into the yard where it appeared the mixed-breed dog was going to kill the pit bull, so a deputy used his stun gun on the dog, which ended the fight again.

Meanwhile, the girl’s 5-year-old brother told a social worker who took him from the home that he saw his sister touch white powder and then lick her finger, according to documents. He told detectives his sister “touched dangerous powder” and temporarily stopped breathing. He said his parents and others were at the home during the overdose.

The boy said no one is allowed to touch the powder, which was on the couch when his sister touched it, “because you die.” He referred to the fentanyl pills as “beans” and that they belonged to his mom. He said they are dangerous and people smoke them.

The boy told the social worker his mother warned him not to touch the powder or pills.

During a search of the home, detectives found a plastic bottle containing 27 fentanyl pills inside a black safe in a dresser drawer of a boy’s bedroom. A Visa card belonging to Smutz was also in the safe.

In the kitchen, detectives found Smutz’s purse that was partially emptied out on the counter. There, they found several small baggies with some type of drug in it.

Paraphernalia used to smoke drugs, burnt tinfoil and a rubber container containing a substance consistent with heroin were also found in the kitchen. A white chunk of substance in the kitchen tested positive for fentanyl.

Throughout the home, several pieces of burnt tinfoil and other drug paraphernalia were in the area of children’s toys and other kid’s items, the sheriff’s office wrote.

A detective wrote that a confidential source said Smutz passed off fentanyl pills to a male on scene prior to deputies’ arrival.

The controlled substances inside the home were sent to the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory to be analyzed. The lab also tested the toddler for controlled substances in her system.

The sheriff’s office in October received the child’s lab results, which showed a positive test for fentanyl. The seized narcotics from the residence and the toddler’s lab results led to the delayed charges, detectives wrote.

Smutz remained Friday in the Stevens County Jail and is scheduled for an arraignment Dec. 15. Fixel was not listed on the jail roster. He posted bond and is set for a status hearing and then trial in February, according to online court information.