BANGOR, Maine — A Corinna couple made their first court appearance by video Friday for charges stemming from a near-fatal fentanyl overdose of their 11-month-old daughter last Saturday.
22-year-old Taezja DiPietro and 26-year-old Zachary Borg appeared at the Penobscot County Judicial Center separately. The couple is charged with aggravated furnishing drugs to a minor, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, endangering the welfare of a child, possession of class W drugs (Fentanyl).
The 11-month-old was found to be in cardiac arrest when EMS personnel arrived and was transported to the Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield where she was successfully resuscitated and stabilized. The child was then flown by Lifeflight of Maine helicopter to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.
In court, Penobscot County Assistant District Attorney Chelsea Lynds said there was fentanyl strewn around the house that the couple's two toddlers lived in.
“Throughout the home, in the coffee table, in the living room, there was a white powdery residue on that coffee table which also had a baby bottle on it and it was in an area that the child had access to,” Lynds said. “And near where the child had been in its walker. Basically, the drugs in this home were handled in such a way that it was a functional certainty that the child would access them and in fact, she did access them. It’s lucky that she survived.”
The Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department posted on its Facebook page, “The parents were interviewed by detectives from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit. A search was executed at the residence in Corinna which revealed the presence of fentanyl in several rooms of the house including the child’s bedroom. The Penobscot County District Attorney’s Office worked with detectives throughout the investigation.”
The judge set bail for Zachary Borg at $10,000 cash and $5,000 cash for Taezja DiPietro. The Maine Department of Human Services has taken custody of the children.