When Aviyana Montoya died in 2022, the toddler had ingested so much fentanyl a prosecutor said it was “10 times the amount” that would kill an adult.

She was “cold to the touch” when adults found her unresponsive in her bedroom, and when paramedics arrived, they said “signs of rigor mortis” had already taken effect.

The little girl, who was approaching her second birthday, had been living in a home that had been used for a drug-dealing operation, according to prosecutors who handled the criminal case against her parents.

A death investigation conducted by the state’s Child Fatality Review Team indicated, “the parents... had been selling fentanyl to pay for their cocaine.”

Aviyana's case is one of two Colorado child fentanyl deaths Scripps News highlighted in December 2024 after receiving access to recently released death investigation reports and other public records.

Scripps News wanted to know: were there warning signs before their deaths, and were those red flags handled properly?

Communication failures

After reviewing the records in Aviyana’s case and in the case of another toddler who died of fentanyl poisoning in Aurora in 2021, Scripps News discovered that communication failures between law enforcement and child welfare workers preceded each child’s death.

Several months prior to their deaths, both children had a parent who had a drug-related run-in with the police — in which the child was present.

In both cases, law enforcement officers failed to alert child welfare workers about the incidents, against their agencies’ policies.

“Governor Polis is disheartened by these stories and committed to ensuring that law enforcement properly notifies and coordinates with state agencies to ensure the safety of all Colorado children,” said Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, in response to Scripps News’ investigation.

What happened in each case

More than a year before Aviyana’s death, a Colorado State Patrol trooper pulled over Aviyana’s father while she was riding in his car.

The officer arrested him for drug and child abuse charges but did not notify child welfare workers about the incident, in violation of the agency’s policy, according to Sgt. Patrick Rice, a spokesperson for the agency.

“Our policy is that the responding trooper contact a CSP victim's advocate to work with human services and the family, or contact human services directly,” said Rice.

In the Aurora case, first responders revived a mother with the opioid reversal antidote, naloxone, after she passed out behind the wheel of her vehicle with her child in the car.

No one alerted child welfare workers about the incident, according to Joe Moylan, a spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department, and about nine months later, the child died of fentanyl poisoning.

“The officer was disciplined and suspended for 20 hours without pay,” Moylan said.

What lawmakers are saying

“Especially having seen your story, I think it’s critical that we take a look and see what is missing in the breakdown in that communication,” said Rep. Chad Clifford, a Democrat who sits on Colorado’s legislative judiciary committee.

In Colorado, “mandatory reporters,” including peace officers, physicians, school employees, and many others, are required to report suspected child abuse or neglect to either a county child welfare agency, to the child abuse hotline, or a local law enforcement agency.

However, police officers are not mandated, under state law, to report child abuse claims directly to child welfare workers, according to the Colorado Office of the Attorney General.

“Statute requires peace officers to report suspected child abuse, but that can be to a law enforcement agency or child protective services,” said Lawrence Pacheco, a spokesperson for Colorado’s Office of the Attorney General.

“There is not a specific requirement that cases are reported to child protective services, although many agencies have individual policies in place to require this type of reporting,” he said.

“I think we definitely need to address this some way with legislation,” Rep. Clifford said.

“I would assert that there are police departments around the state and sheriff’s departments that do have good communications and relationships with child protective services," he said. "I think we should probably take a look at what has been working in areas - if it is - and get some feedback ... and then codify something, so that it’s more universal.”

State Sen. John Carson, a Republican who sits on the state’s judiciary and health and human services committees, said he believes communication should be enhanced.

“What you reported on...indicates we do need to have more communication out there at all levels of society,” he said. “We need more education to parents. We need more education to law enforcement. We need education here at the Capitol with state legislators. And we’ve got to figure out how to get a handle on this and prevent more deaths.”

Carson said he is a proponent of increasing penalties for possessing fentanyl, and if he believes it is warranted, he would consider a new law.

“If there’s legislation or work we need to do to improve that communication, I would want to take a look at that,” he said. “I’m interested in looking at anything that might help. But a lot of times you find there’s a lot of legislation already out there – a lot of regulations already out there – they're just not being followed...we ought to first take a look at that and make sure that the agencies are following the guidelines and the rules and that it’s a top priority.”

A spokesperson for Polis said the issue is important.

“Governor Polis is open to ideas that keep our kids safe and prevent this type of communication breakdown from occurring again, ensuring that Colorado’s Division of Child Welfare has the information it needs to protect Colorado kids. Governor Polis is committed to making Colorado one of the top ten safest states, and that includes protecting our communities and kids from the scourge of fentanyl,” said Wieman.

An ongoing problem

Communication issues like these have been a problem for many years, according to state records reviewed by Scripps News.

The Child Fatality Prevention System — which is administered by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment — reported “a need to address issues with information sharing between agencies,” as far back as 2016.

Scripps News also repeatedly found similar recommendations for improved communication in annual reports prepared by the state’s Child Fatality Review Team, which operates under the Colorado Department of Human Services.

“I think that’s going to be something that’s going to be in progress for a while,” April Jenkins, a manager for CDHS's child protection and prevention unit, told Scripps News in December last year.

In response to questions about how communication issues would be addressed by CDHS, a spokesperson told Scripps News that it was planning a “workgroup” that would focus on “designing standard protocols for enhancing working relationships and communication” between human services, social services, and law enforcement agencies statewide.

A CDHS spokesperson told Scripps News that a preliminary planning group met last week and planned to reach out to counties and law enforcement agencies to participate in the workgroup.

Louisiana state investigation identifies similar breakdown

Scripps News also found similar communication breakdowns in other states.

In Louisiana, for example, police conducted a drug raid at Mitchell Robinson’s home, weeks before the two-year-old died of fentanyl poisoning in 2022. According to a state investigation, child welfare workers had no record of being contacted by law enforcement.