Pittsburgh woman charged in fentanyl death of her 7-month-old granddaughter
Allegheny County police charged a second person in connection with the fatal fentanyl poisoning of a 7-month-old Penn Hills infant — the girl’s grandmother.
Barbara Ann Dunlap-Toombs, 66, of Larimer, turned herself in to sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday. She is charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person. She is awaiting a preliminary hearing, which is scheduled for May 30.
Police previously on April 14 charged David Dwayne Poindexter, 58, of Elliott, the grandmother’s friend, with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment.
The child, Zhuri Bogle, died of acute fentanyl toxicity on Jan. 14 in her home, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Penn Hills police and paramedics responded to the 8100 block of Chaske Street around 6:45 a.m. that day, after the infant was reported to be unresponsive.
Upon arrival, first responders found Zhuri’s father performing CPR. First responders took over. At 7:05 a.m., the girl was pronounced dead at the scene, county police said.
Police said Zhuri had been in the care of her grandmother and Poindexter the previouos night. She had already been put to bed when her parents arrived home on the evening of Jan. 13, police said.
During Zhuri’s autopsy, a small square packet, which appeared to be a baggie with the word “Machine” printed on the front, was recovered from the baby’s throat, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.
The baggie tested positive for fentanyl, officials said.
Pointdexter told investigators that on the day he had watched Zhuri with Dunlap, he worked a moving job and earned $250. He said he used the money to buy 10 stamp bags of heroin that contained fentanyl, according to police.
Poindexter admitted he snorted one of the bags before going to the house to meet Dunlap and discarded the bag out the window, police said. The rest of the bags were in a plastic bag in his pocket.
Poindexter said that he snorted one or two bags of heroin out of his hand while at the house, according to the complaint.
It remains unclear how the infant got one of the stamp bags.
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.
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