Mothers charged in separate cases after 2-year-old dies from fentanyl, infant hospitalized for meth poisoning

Two women face felony charges in separate cases in connection with the poisoning of their young children by drugs that ended with the death of a toddler who ingested fentanyl and the hospitalization of an infant with methamphetamine in her system.

Christin VanNett, 37, of Bemidji is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Niindonis Goodman, from fentanyl toxicity after the toddler was found unresponsive on May 28 and died at HCMC later that night.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner found that Goodman had fentanyl in her system along with traces of norfentanyl, naloxone and caffeine.

Niindonis was buried in the Bellanger Family Cemetery on the White Earth Indian Reservation in June. An obituary for her read, “Niindonis was a sweet and innocent toddler whose favorite color was purple. She loved to snuggle, and her favorite stuffed animal was Lambie. Although she left this earth much too soon, she will live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved her.”

According to court documents:

Police were dispatched to an apartment at the Higher Ground Catholic Charities shelter in Minneapolis on a report of a child not breathing. Medical technicians administered naloxone to the child and performed CPR. The child was transported to the hospital and declared dead.

There were capped needles on the floor, blue “tie-off” bands for injecting drugs, saline solution and cotton balls. When police executed a search warrant they found a plate with white powder on it that field tested positive for fentanyl, they also found multiple pills and needles.

VanNett told the officers she had taken pain medication for a twisted ankle and fell asleep with her daughter on her chest. When the girl’s father, Jonathan Goodman III, returned home, VanNett said she woke up and found the child on top of her, unresponsive.

When police asked about the fentanyl on the plate, VanNett said she didn’t know how it had gotten there though she did admit to using fentanyl in the apartment and that she had taken it before falling asleep. The father said he had left the child with VanNett and was gone for around 4½ that afternoon before returning to find the child unresponsive.

The next day, police interviewed VanNett’s mother, who had taken custody of another child in the family. That child, the older sister of Niindonis, told her grandma that on the previous day she had been in the apartment with her mom when she saw her mother stick a needle in her arm.

VanNett is not in custody and has been issued a summons to appear in court on Sept. 12. No lawyer is listed as representing her. VanNett currently has a warrant out for her arrest in Mahnomen County on suspicion of DWI. She has a lengthy criminal history around traffic violations and driving without a license, and one felony conviction for fifth-degree drug possession in Becker County in 2018.

Also Wednesday, Jasamine Mariah Eggleston of Minneapolis was charged with felony neglect of a child that results in substantial harm after officers were called to Children’s Minnesota hospital on Chicago Avenue on a report of a 1-month-old girl struggling to breathe on her own.

Tests showed that the baby had methamphetamines and amphetamines in her system.

Hospital staff told police that Eggleston, 27, was “very high on meth” and the child was intubated and treated in the NICU. Six days before the child was brought in, Eggleston had visited a hospital and said she was concerned about her drug use.

Eggleston told police she didn’t know how the baby could have gotten drugs in her system because she “is not old enough to move on her own.” But she did acknowledge there were drugs in her home. Eggleston has a lengthy criminal history but has never been convicted of a felony. She has a jury trial slated to start Nov. 18 on charges from 2022 of fifth-degree drug possession after Edina police alleged she was trying to fill false prescriptions for oxycodone. She also was charged with fifth-degree assault in Hennepin County in July and an upcoming hearing on that case will be addressed on Nov. 18, as well.

Eggleston is not in custody and has been issued a summons to appear in court on Sept. 12. No lawyer is listed as representing her.

The impact of drugs on the children of addicts continues to be a public health and public safety issue in the Twin Cities. State data analyzed by the Minnesota Star Tribune shows that opioid-involved deaths among all age groups surged by 130% between 2019 and 2022, with fentanyl representing huge portions of those overdoses. In that same time, hundreds of youth younger than 20 survived overdoses of fentanyl and other opioids. Most overdoses struck during the pandemic.