Bergen Woman Charged In 6-Month-Old’s Opioid Overdose

NORTH ARLINGTON, NJ - A Bergen County woman was charged this week after reportedly allowing a 6-month-old to have unsupervised access to an opioid that the child later overdosed on, authorities said.

Alia Elsafy, 23, was arrested Thursday in Paramus and charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. She was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending her first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.

The charge stems from investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the North Arlington Police Department after the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit on May 19 regarding an alleged overdose of a 6-month-old child.

An investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the North Arlington Police Department later found that Elsafy reportedly endangered the welfare of the child by allowing the child unsupervised access to a suspected opioid, which the child later ingested and overdosed on.

Musella thanked the North Arlington Police Department for its help in the investigation.