14-month-old died overdosing on illicit drugs in Little Canada home, charges say

A 14-month-old boy overdosed and died after ingesting illicit drugs that his parents left out in the family's Little Canada apartment, which was littered with syringes and other paraphernalia, according to charges against the mother and father.

Joseph Compton, 28, was charged last week in Ramsey County District Court with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death on Sept. 4 of Ryder Compton at the home in the 200 block of E. County Road B2.

Ryder's mother, Andrea N. Intveld, 31, was charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter.

Both parents appeared in court Tuesday and remain jailed. Bail was set at $800,000 for Compton and $500,000 for Intveld. They are due back in court Dec. 22. Legal counsel for them was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

An autopsy by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Ryder died from overdosing on heroin and fentanyl, criminal complaints against the parents said.

According to the charges:

Law enforcement caught up with Compton and Intveld at a hotel in Maple Grove on Sept. 8. Compton told officers that he and Intveld used heroin, likely laced with fentanyl, four days earlier, when Ryder died. He said he brought the drug to the apartment, prepared hypodermic shots for himself and Intveld but left some of the drug where his son could reach it.

Compton said he fell asleep on the floor, then awoke about 3 a.m. to find Ryder on top of him and not breathing. He said a container that held the heroin was about 4 feet from the boy, but law enforcement has yet to locate the container.

He said he ran to the bathroom screaming for Intveld, and they both administered to their son as much Narcan antidote as they could. Compton fled. He had an outstanding warrant for his arrest for domestic assault.

When sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call and arrived at the apartment after Ryder's death, Compton was gone and Intveld gave them conflicting accounts. First, she said she was taking a bath at the time, then she said she went for a walk to buy cigarettes and returned to find Compton with an unresponsive Ryder.

Intveld also said she did not use drugs in the time leading up to Ryder's death and had been clean for the past eight months. She suspected Compton was still using drugs but couldn't recall him doing so. In a follow-up interview, she admitted using narcotics five days beforehand and that she hadn't left the apartment, as she said earlier. She added that she was sleeping in the bathtub and came out to join Compton in the search for Narcan.

A police search of the home turned up an uncapped syringe with a red liquid inside on the kitchen floor. A used syringe was "in plain view" on the living room television stand, "within easy reach of a toddler," the charges read. Still more syringes were on the floor behind the couch.

In Intveld's bedroom, deputies recovered marijuana paraphernalia, THC gummies and a jar of marijuana. A small box on her dresser held several crystallized balls of "suspected controlled substance," the charges said.

On the morning before Compton and Intveld were found in Maple Grove, a deputy was in the hall outside their apartment and heard Intveld on the phone blaming Compton for Ryder's death. The deputy also reported hearing Intveld saying they needed to get their stories straight before Compton talked to police.

The investigation also turned up evidence in text messages that Intveld had been lying to investigators, knew Compton's whereabouts and was helping him avoid capture.

Both parents have dozens of contacts each with the Sheriff's Office, including in July when law enforcement was told that Ryder picked up heroin-laced cotton balls. County child protection officials were unable to confirm that the boy came into contact with heroin.

Compton's criminal history in Minnesota includes seven convictions for theft, three for possessing drug paraphernalia, two for drug possession and one each for assault, receiving stolen property, drunken driving and domestic abuse.

Minnesota court records show Intveld has been convicted twice for underage alcohol consumption and once each for drunken driving and theft.