NYSP

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

A 41-year-old New York man has been arrested five years after his 10-month-old child died from acute fentanyl intoxication, New York State Police announced Tuesday, Dec. 2.

The case began on Nov. 9, 2020, at 6:09 p.m., when Dutchess County 911 dispatched officers to a home on Creekview Court in the Village of Wappingers Falls for a report of an unconscious infant, state police said. The child was taken by EMS to Vassar Brothers Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

According to State Police, an autopsy conducted by the Dutchess County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death to be acute fentanyl intoxication.

Following a long-term investigation conducted with the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office, police said the child’s father, Thomas E. Martinez, 41, who was responsible for the child’s care at the time, was arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide, a class E felony.

State Police said Martinez was arraigned in the Village of Wappingers Falls Court on Tuesday, Dec. 2, and is scheduled to return on Jan. 6, 2026.

Police said they would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office and the Dutchess County Medical Examiner’s Office throughout the investigation.