The mother of a 22-month-old Brighton toddler who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2022 was sentenced Tuesday to more than 20 years in prison.
On Tuesday, 17th Judicial District Judge Kyle Seedorf sentenced 32-year-old Nicole Danielle Casias to 22 years in prison for child abuse resulting in death — one year for every month her daughter had lived before the overdose — according to court records.
Seedorf also sentenced Casias to two years in prison for drug possession with intent to distribute and ordered her to pay nearly $5,500 in various legal fees, restitution and surcharges, court records show.
Casias pleaded guilty to both charges during a hearing in May in a plea deal that dropped additional charges of first-degree murder, racketeering, conspiracy and child molestation from her case, court records show.
The mother was arrested in January 2022 after her daughter, Aviyana Montoya, was found unconscious in her crib.
Aviyana’s parents – Alonzo Ray Montoya and Casias – were initially arrested on child abuse charges and later indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, racketeering and conspiracy.
Investigators discovered that Aviyana had ingested ten times the amount of fentanyl needed to kill an adult and that she was in the same room while her parents were using and selling drugs. No one checked on her for almost 14 hours.
Another Adams County judge — Don Quick — dismissed first-degree murder charges against both parents, ruling that there was no evidence the parents “knowingly caused” their daughter’s death, even though she used and sold they drugged for hours in another room while their daughters were dead. Her daughter’s condition worsened and they did not notice her loud, painful cries.
Aviyana’s father, Montoya, was convicted in January of child abuse resulting in death, racketeering and other charges and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
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