SLO toddler died from fentanyl poisoning 5 months ago. Police just arrested his mom

San Luis Obispo police arrested a mother on suspicion of child endangerment Tuesday, five months after her 3-year-old son died from fentanyl poisoning, the department said in a news release Thursday.

The boy’s 30-year-old mother, Jennifer Niemann, was his primary caregiver and present at the time of his poisoning on May 4.

The toddler was found unresponsive, turning blue and not breathing at a home on the 1600 block of Mill. Despite live-saving efforts from first responders and transport to Sierra Vista Hospital, the child never regained consciousness and ultimately died.

The San Luis Obispo County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy on the child, which included a toxicology screening, at the request of the Police Department.

The screening results, which came back in mid-June, showed the child died from a fatal level of fentanyl in his system.

In the months that followed, investigators gathered additional information that Niemann’s actions “allowed access to fentanyl, which directly led to the child’s death,” the release said.

San Luis Obipso Police Department detectives traveled to San Diego on Monday to find Niemann, and arrested her Tuesday on suspicion of felony child endangerment with great bodily injury, with a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury in the commission of a felony, misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of fentanyl.

She was transported back to San Luis Obispo County Jail, where she remains in custody, according to the jail’s inmate lookup.