St. Paul parents charged in baby’s fentanyl overdose death

The St. Paul parents of a 1-year-old girl face multiple charges after the baby ingested her mother’s fentanyl and died.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged 20-year-old Tessa Vorlicky with two counts of second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Mi’Vida Vorlicky. Mi’Vida’s father, 26-year-old Derrick Harrison, was charged with child endangerment.

Prosecutors asked Judge Maria Mitchell to set Vorlicky’s bail at $150,000, and to set Harrison’s bail at $50,000.

According to Mi’Vida’s online obituary, she “lit up the room with her presence, and giggled endlessly when she played peekaboo.”

Charging documents say on the evening of Dec. 1, police were called to the 300 block of Toronto Street in St. Paul’s West 7th neighborhood. The 911 caller said Vorlicky and Harrison’s 1-year-old girl was gasping for air. A dispatcher heard Vorlicky scream, “Did you give her Narcan?”

Vorlicky ran when police arrived but was later arrested for previous warrants. Harrison was also arrested at the scene for outstanding warrants — he had six prior felony convictions.

Mi’Vida was transported to Children’s Hospital and given Narcan, a medicine used to treat opioid overdose, but her condition worsened. Doctors declared Mi’Vida brain dead on Dec. 5. An autopsy by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office found fentanyl and metal foil in her system, ruling her cause of death as acute fentanyl toxicity.

Police interviewed Vorlicky’s mother at the scene. She said her daughter and Mi’Vida lived in an upstairs bedroom with Harrison, adding that both of her daughters are addicted to drugs which they often smoke from tinfoil. Vorlicky’s mother did not know what drugs Mi’Vida took, but said police would find drug paraphernalia in Vorlicky’s room. Inside the home officers found: dog feces on the floor, a glass pipe, Narcan, a bag with 0.23 grams of meth, more than 70 pieces of crumpled tinfoil with residue, a blue fentanyl pill, a blue computer tablet with fentanyl residue, 13 cut straws and six plastic baggies.

Harrison agreed to speak with investigators, telling them that he and Vorlicky separated more than a year ago. He claimed to check on their daughter three to four times a week because Vorlicky often invited people over.

Harrison said he took an Uber to the house that day and noticed Mi’Vida’s struggled breathing within 15 minutes. He ran downstairs yelling for help from Vorlicky’s mother as they performed CPR on the child. He denied using the same drugs as Vorlicky, but said they often talk about her drug use. Charging documents said Harrison also “accepted responsibility for not being there for [Mi’Vida] and getting her into a better situation.”

Investigators found a hold was placed on Mi’Vida’s birth because Vorlicky used fentanyl while in labor at the hospital. Harrison confirmed that Mi’Vida suffered withdrawals at birth.

Officers interviewed Vorlicky, who suffered “severe” withdrawals while in custody at the Ramsey County jail. She said her drugs of choice are methamphetamine and fentanyl, but claimed to have smoked the last of her fentanyl on the morning of Dec. 1. She also claimed to have ingested a Percocet and smoked meth that morning. Vorlicky said her baby was healthy and cooing “mama” before Vorlicky fell asleep near her around noon. Vorlicky woke to Harrison screaming for help.

Vorlicky denied owning the tinfoil officers found, and denied the baggies they found ever had drugs in them. Vorlicky was also arrested last year when officers found her slumped over in a vehicle with fentanyl inside. For that, she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DWI charge.