BRIGHTON, Colo. — A father has been sentenced in connection with the January 2022 fentanyl poisoning death of his daughter.
The trial for Alonzo Montoya began on Jan. 8. On Jan. 22, a jury found him guilty of all five charges he faced. They include:
- Colorado Organized Crime Act (COCCA) - racketeering
- Colorado Organized Crime Act - conspiracy
- Child abuse - recklessly causing death
- Child abuse - manufacture of a controlled substance
- Child abuse - knowingly/recklessly causes injury
Montoya was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Police officers were called to the family's home in Brighton around 2 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2022, after 22-month-old Aviyana Montoya was found unresponsive and not breathing. An arrest affidavit says Aviyana was left unattended for nearly 14 hours and that surveillance video from inside the apartment records the young girl crying loudly and in pain multiple times throughout the night.
An autopsy said both methamphetamine and fentanyl were found in Aviyana's blood. The amount of fentanyl was 10 times the amount of fentanyl necessary to kill an intolerant adult user, according to the coroner.
According to the judge's ruling, a test of Aviyana's hair follicles showed that she was exposed to the smoking of cocaine, meth and marijuana for three months before her death.
In September 2022 a grand jury indicted Montoya and Aviyana's mother Nicole Casias on charges including first-degree murder in Aviyana's death. The first-degree murder charge was challenged and later dismissed.
Chief Judge Don Quick said when he dismissed the charge that there was no evidence supporting a finding of probable cause that the parents "knowingly caused the death" of their child.
Charges are still pending against Casias. She's next due in court on May 10.
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