Baby Overdosed On Fentanyl In Bensalem, Parents Charged

BENSALEM, PA — The parents of a 9-month-old girl are in jail after police say the baby overdosed on the potentially deadly opioid fentanyl.

Maria Dolderer, 24, and Michael Picardi, 28, of Bensalem, face felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child. Police say the couple were uncooperative with officers investigating the case and provided no logical explanation as to how the child could have overdosed.

At 10:48 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24, Bensalem Police were called to an address on Finch Drive in regard to the baby going into cardiac arrest. Officers and Bensalem EMS began treating the girl, including giving her a dose of Narcan, an anti-overdose drug.

Police say the couple's apartment was "unfurnished and dirty" and that there were multiple medication bottles throughout it that the girl could have reached. There also were prescription bottles on the bed and floor and there was an empty bottle of acetaminophen with codeine found in the baby's swing, according to police.

Medical tests showed the child's urine tested positive for fentanyl, police said. The baby was placed on a ventilator and administered more Narcan to prevent her death, police said. On top of that, a Narcan drip was required "due to the high dose of fentanyl the child ingested," according to police.

On Tuesday, police said the little girl was at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, where she was listed in stable condition.

Dolderer and Picardi were arraigned and sent to Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10 percent of $200,000 bail.