Aitkin woman pleads guilty to charges filed in connection to 2-year-old’s drug exposure

One of the three people charged after a two-year-old was hospitalized for being exposed to drugs in Aitkin County last summer has pleaded guilty.

On Monday, guilty pleas were filed for 28-year-old Yolanda Eagle Armendariz of Aitkin to five charges, despite her failing to appear for the hearing, according to court clerk minutes. The guilty pleas were for four misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and one felony count of second-degree drug possession.

A sentencing has been scheduled for the afternoon of June 24.

As previously reported, three people were arrested for the incident. Armendariz, as well as Cody Hunter Sam and Shannon Lee Eagle Nayquonabe, were all formally charged last July. Sam and Nayquonabe both have court hearings scheduled for next month.

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The child’s mother told deputies she’d picked the child up from his father’s place in Mille Lacs and brought him back to the home her mother rents. However, while getting him ready for bed, she noticed the child’s breathing didn’t sound normal.

A criminal complaint states that the woman’s sister, Armendariz, put the child in a car to drive him to a hospital but the mother had to call 911 within a few miles.

The Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office says the child was given naloxone and was hospitalized in stable condition.

Authorities executed a search warrant at the home later that day and found four or five other children, including a 2-year-old in a crib that was located near a plate of crushed fentanyl. The sheriff’s office says the children were taken into protective custody, and Armendariz, Sam and Nayquonabe were taken into custody.

A total of 304 M30 pills that tested positive for fentanyl were seized from the home, according to a complaint.