JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman was arrested and a man is wanted after a 20-month-old girl died in December, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.

On Dec. 20, JSO said, police responded to an area hospital where the toddler died hours after being transported there from East 14th Street.

According to JSO, the coroner determined that the manner of death was accidental due to acute fentanyl poisoning.

Homicide detectives said one of the suspects was identified as Carlida Miller. The Sheriff’s Office said Miller, 32, was arrested Monday on charges of murder and tampering with evidence. As of Thursday, she remained in the Duval County Jail on $800,000 bond, according to online jail records.

Detectives said they are still trying to locate Tyeon Ford, 23, who has an active warrant for his arrest on charges of murder and tampering with evidence.

According to Miller’s arrest report, on the day the girl died, JSO brought Miller and Ford in for questioning. They both told investigators the girl had no known health problems, and Ford said more to police, but it was redacted, the report shows. When police searched the home where the child lived, JSO said, the kitchen area appeared to be cleaned and the shower appeared to have been used recently.

Although it is unclear whether the child who died belonged to Miller, court documents show that in 2018 and 2020 she had been involved in a custody battle and child support case involving two men. It is also unclear whether the child belonged to Ford.

New4JAX combed through Duval County court records that revealed Ford pleaded guilty in 2021 to possession of cocaine, and sentencing was withheld.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact JSO by calling 904-630-0500 or emailing [email protected] To remain anonymous and potentially receive a cash reward, call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children under the age of 14 die from fentanyl poisoning at a much higher rate than any other age group.

From 2019 to 2021, fentanyl deaths for children ages 1 to 4 tripled. And deaths involving children aged 5 to 14 quadrupled.

“Drug intoxication today poses a clear and present threat to our public safety,” said Mike Dubet, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA Jacksonville office.

Dubet says illegal possession of street-bought fentanyl is bad enough, but leaving it within reach of a young child is a recipe for disaster.

“I would consider it like having a handgun around kids,” Dubet said. “Leaving drugs around your children, especially drugs that may contain fentanyl, can be fatal.”

The DEA says it only takes 2 milligrams of ingested fentanyl to potentially cause a fatal overdose. That amount of fentanyl is small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil, but still potentially fatal if swallowed.