Fentanyl blamed for child's death

A married couple from Ronan are accused of exposing their 13-month-old child to fentanyl, leading to the boy’s death.

Roberta Hammer, 22, and Nyibe Jordan Nguyen, 25, each entered pleas of not guilty in Polson District Court March 28 to felony negligent homicide.

According to court records, on Sept. 16, 2023, Hammer and Nguyen brought the child to St. Luke Hospital in Ronan. The boy was declared dead 50 minutes after arriving.

A deputy with the Lake County Sheriff’s Department responded and went through the “Sudden Unexplained Infant Death” form with the parents, who were still at the hospital. They reportedly told the deputy the child “put himself to nap” at about 5 p.m. Roberta Hammer allegedly noticed the boy was unresponsive about two hours later.

An autopsy later determined the boy’s cause of death was “acute fentanyl intoxication.”

Nguyen allegedly told investigators that Hammer had recently received her “18” money from the Tribes and spent some of it on fentanyl.

Nguyen initially denied that he and Hammer used anything but marijuana in the residence. When confronted with a drug test showing he had used methamphetamine and fentanyl, he allegedly admitted that he used fentanyl in the residence.

During a second interview with Hammer, she allegedly admitted that people had smoked fentanyl at the residence at least 100 times.

According to the court report, both gave “inconsistent versions of who, where and when they and other people smoked fentanyl in their residence.”

Interim Judge Robert G. Olson of Hill County presided over the arraignment hearing for both Hammer and Nguyen. He set both of their trials for Sept. 23 and reduced the bond amounts to $20,000 each.