Father pleads guilty to manslaughter after child dies from ingesting heroin

A man pleaded guilty to a charge filed against him in relation to his one-year-old child dying of a drug overdose in September.

Joseph Tanner Elajah Compton, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter earlier the month. It’s part of a plea deal that will see the charge of third-degree murder dropped.

His sentencing is set for July 10 at 1:30 p.m.

RELATED: Mother arrested, warrant issued for father after 1-year-old dies from possible overdose

The child’s mother, 32-year-old Andrea Niccole Intveld, was sentenced to more than three years (41 months) in prison after being convicted of second-degree manslaughter in April.

As previously reported, Ramsey County deputies were called to a home on the 200 block of County Road B2 East in the early hours of Sept. 4, 2022, on a report of a child not breathing. The one-year-old was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

The medical examiner later determined the child’s cause of death was combined drug toxicity, including heroin and fentanyl.

Intveld told authorities that Compton was watching their son, and when she returned to the apartment, she found the child blue and unresponsive on the floor. However, she later admitted to waking up in the bathtub and seeing Compton running around in a panic, looking for Narcan. Court documents state she and Compton gave the child multiple doses of Narcan in an attempt to help the child. Compton had left the scene before deputies arrived.

Inside the apartment, deputies saw several capped and uncapped needles and a spoon with burn marks in the bathroom. A criminal complaint states Intveld and Compton have significant histories with the sheriff’s office.

On Sept. 8, while looking for Compton near Intveld’s apartment, a deputy heard a conversation between the boy’s parents where Intveld said, “I know that you’re still using and that you killed your son with your own drugs.” She went on to state, “He was awake for a very long time while you were passed out… with drugs sitting out,” according to the complaint.

Deputies found Compton later that day in Maple Grove and arrested him. In an interview with investigators, the complaint states Compton admitted he and Intveld used heroin the day their son died. He added that he knew the heroin was likely laced with fentanyl.

He added that he was playing with the boy on the living room floor and put the drugs in a spot where the boy could still reach them. While Intveld was passed out in the bathtub, he fell asleep on the floor. He later woke up, found the boy not breathing, and noticed the opened container of his heroin about four feet away.

After waking up Intveld and giving the child Narcan, he fled because of an outstanding warrant for domestic assault.