Oak Harbor mother held on manslaughter charge in toddler death case

A judge found probable cause for first-degree manslaughter in the death of Jessica L. Kido’s 2-year-old child, keeping the 34-year-old Oak Harbor woman in Island County Jail on $300,000 bail as prosecutors pressed a case that has become a hard test of the county’s child-protection and drug-response systems.

Kido called 911 shortly before 9 p.m. after seeing blood coming from the toddler’s mouth and nose and noticing that the child was having trouble speaking and crying. Paramedics took the child to WhidbeyHealth Medical Center in Coupeville, where medical staff pronounced the toddler dead. Preliminary testing later indicated exposure to suspected fentanyl and cocaine.

During the hearing, Judge Carolyn Cliff found probable cause not only for first-degree manslaughter, but also for two counts of reckless endangerment and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Cliff declined to find probable cause for controlled substance homicide, saying the record did not yet establish how the drugs were allegedly delivered to the child. Under Washington law, first-degree manslaughter applies when a person recklessly causes another person’s death and is a class A felony.

Oak Harbor police detectives later learned that a 4-year-old child in the apartment was unharmed and was taken into protective custody. Investigators also said Kido limited officers’ access to the apartment before a warrant search turned up suspected fentanyl, more than $6,000 in cash, a digital scale, a notebook that appeared to document drug sales, and a safe containing about 30 firearms. Kido also admitted to smoking fentanyl each morning in her SUV, investigators said.

The case raises painful questions about what warning signs may have existed before the 911 call, and whether earlier intervention could have changed the outcome. In Washington, child welfare, hospital staff, police, and prosecutors all have roles when a child may be exposed to opioids or other drugs. Here, a 24-hour emergency hospital, a protective custody decision for a second child, and a search warrant all came into play only after the toddler was already dead.

Washington officials have reported a sharp rise in child deaths and near-deaths tied to fentanyl and accidental drug exposure, including cases involving children ages 0 to 3. In Island County, the death has now become part of that larger crisis, with the medical examiner and prosecutors still working toward a fuller account of what happened inside the Oak Harbor home on Northeast Kettle Street.