A preliminary hearing Friday will set the course for a case involving an 18-month-old boy’s murder from fentanyl exposure and five other children poisoned by the drug, according to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.   The death of Justin Bulley is being prosecuted by Jon Hatami , a former Santa Clarita City Council candidate and Valencia resident who oversees the Complex Child Abuse Section as assistant head deputy of the Family Violence Division.  Hatami said he was seeking justice for the drug’s innocent victims, trying to raise awareness about the drug’s dangers and creating a precedent for accountability.   “I am currently prosecuting the first case in L.A. County where we are charging a grandfather, a mom and an approved (Department of Child and Family Services) visitation monitor in the nearby Antelope Valley with numerous crimes, including second degree murder, for the death of 18-month-old Justin,” said Hatami, acknowledging the mother, Jessica Dominique Darthard, has ties to the Santa Clarita Valley.   Jessica Darthard left her infant with the boy’s grandfather, Jesse Darthard, in Lancaster, and prosecutors have alleged both are responsible for the boy getting access to the fentanyl that killed Justin on Feb. 18, 2024.  They’ve further alleged several counts of child abuse likely to cause great bodily injury against Secret Rodcliff Daniel, the DCFS-approved monitor, after all five other children under his care in the house tested positive for fentanyl.  All three pleaded not guilty to the complaint Hatami filed at their initial preliminary arraignment Dec. 18.   Hatami likened having the drug in the house with children around to a “loaded, unsecured firearm.”  “Fentanyl is the deadliest drug in L.A. County,” he said. “It has not only impacted the adult community, it has innocently poisoned and killed toddlers, children and teenagers. We have sadly lost young people and teenagers here in our own Santa Clarita Valley as a result of fentanyl poisoning.”  Jessica Darthard, a Palmdale resident, had a probation violation hearing March 10 regarding an April 2022 DUI conviction in the SCV. Judge Daviann Mitchell sentenced her to six months in jail with credit for one month of time served.  She remains in custody at the women’s jail in Lynwood, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s Department custody records available online.  Hatami credited the work of the LASD Homicide Bureau and the LASD Overdose Response Task Force with helping bring this case to trial.   At the preliminary hearing, which started March 26 and continues on Friday, the prosecution presents evidence to a judge who decides whether there’s enough to merit a trial.  The post Mother accused of fentanyl poisoning in infant’s death  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal. ...read more read less