California mother arrested after her infant died in 2023. Police say fentanyl was to blame

A Butte County mother was arrested last month nearly a year after her infant died from what Chico authorities say was a fentanyl overdose.

Chico police were called to Enloe Medical Center on July 6, 2023, after the mother took the 1-year-old to the hospital. The child, who was not identified, was pronounced dead.

“Butte County sheriff’s deputies and Chico police officers began investigating the death and responded to the child’s home,” the Chico Police Department said in a news release this week. “During a search of the residence, officers found fentanyl drug paraphernalia in close proximity to where the child slept.”

As part of its “lengthy investigation,” detectives interviewed relatives and collected evidence indicating the mother was “using fentanyl prior to and after the infant’s death.” Officers also said they found evidence that “drug paraphernalia (was) in close proximity to where the child slept.”

On May 30, officers obtained an arrest warrant for the mother — identified as Christy Ann Scarbrough, 40, of Durham — and took her into custody.

Scarbrough remains held in Butte County jail without bail after she was charged June 3 with felony child cruelty resulting in death, as well as an enhancement in connection with injuries causing a child’s death.

Scarbrough has not entered a plea and is expected to return to court June 20.