A suspected drug dealer is facing murder charges in connection with the fentanyl deaths of two babies in May and August of 2023 in San Jose, California, Santa Clara County prosecutors said.
“District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s office announced Friday that 33-year-old Philip Ortega has been charged with murder in the May 2023 death of the infant, who prosecutors called ‘Baby Phoenix,’” CBS News reported on Friday. “Ortega was previously charged with murder in the Aug. 2023 overdose death of another infant, who was dubbed ‘Baby Winter.’”
The father of Baby Phoenix, 40-year-old David Anthony Castro, is also facing a murder charge after being previously charged with felony child endangerment, prosecutors said.
“The senseless deaths of these two little girls broke our hearts yet hardened our determination to hold responsible the people whose recklessness killed them,” Rosen said in a statement. “The fact that the same man provided the fatal drugs that took the lives of Baby Phoenix and Baby Winter within a handful of months of each other is beyond shocking.”
Prosecutors said Baby Phoenix was found dead on May 13, 2023, in an apartment filled with drug paraphernalia. A subsequent autopsy confirmed she died from a deadly amount of methamphetamine and fentanyl, according to the report.
Rosen’s office said new evidence shows Castro sought out Ortega the night before the child’s death, and Ortega allegedly provided drugs to Castro. Prosecutors further alleged that he delayed calling for medical help while he tried to obtain synthetic urine from a smoke shop to lie about his drug use.
Baby Phoenix’s mother was not home at the time of her child’s death and died a few months later of an overdose, prosecutors said.
Ortega is also one of four people facing charges for the death of Baby Winter on August 12, 2023. Winter’s parents reportedly waited for more than 12 hours before calling emergency services to report the death of their daughter.
Baby Winter’s parents, Derek Vaughn Rayo and Kelly Gene Richardson, are the first people in Santa Clara County to face murder charges for their own child’s overdose death, according to the report.
Both Ortega and Castro face life in prison if they are convicted.
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