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Tag: jonathan hatami

  • Palmdale mother charged with murder in toddler’s fentanyl overdose death

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    A 23-year-old Palmdale woman will face a murder charge in the 2023 overdose death of her 2-year-old son, Los Angeles County authorities said Monday.

    Anaie Flores was charged with one count of murder and one county of child abuse causing the death of her son, Angel, in November 2023, according to a criminal complaint.

    Angel died after overdosing on fentanyl left out by her mother, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonathan Hatami, who is prosecuting the case.

    Flores was arrested Thursday by L.A. County sheriff’s deputies and held in lieu of $2-million bail, jail records show.

    It was not immediately clear who was serving as Flores’ attorney. Her arraignment was continued on Monday afternoon, according to Hatami.

    Flores pleaded no contest to grand theft this year and was sentenced to two years of probation in connection with a March burglary, court records show.

    Although it is rare for prosecutors to charge adults with murder in the cases of accidental overdoses involving children in their care, it is not unprecedented. Hatami is pursuing a similar case involving the death of a 17-month-old boy in Lancaster.

    “Fentanyl is sort of like a loaded gun. If you leave a loaded gun in your house and it’s not locked up properly and you have children, and a child gets ahold of that loaded gun and shoots themselves, the parent should be responsible,” Hatami said in an interview with The Times this year. “That’s conscious disregard for the safety of others.”

    At least 11 children younger than 5 have suffered fentanyl-related deaths in California in 2023, according to the state health department.

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    James Queally

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  • D.A. George Gascón faces 9 challengers in one of the largest primary fields in L.A. history

    D.A. George Gascón faces 9 challengers in one of the largest primary fields in L.A. history

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    When Jackie Lacey sought a second term as Los Angeles’ top prosecutor in 2016, she wound up running unopposed.

    The man who ousted her from office, George Gascón, has a much steeper hill to climb to win reelection next year.

    During his first term in office, Gascón has frequently been at odds with his own prosecutors and law enforcement, who say his policies aimed at reducing mass incarceration and racially disparate outcomes in the criminal justice system have led to spikes in violence. Data show the violent crime rate is trending down, but some experts have cautioned against making connections between short-term shifts in the crime rate and a prosecutor’s policies.

    Gascón’s positions have motivated one of the largest primary fields in the history of the office, with a mix of former federal prosecutors, county judges and deputy district attorneys taking a run at the self-described “godfather of progressive prosecutors” in 2024.

    District attorney’s elections have become more competitive across the nation in recent years as reform-minded progressives challenge more traditional prosecutors. Gascón’s 2020 tilt with Lacey saw millions raised in a nationally watched race that drew endorsements from presidential candidates.

    Gascón, who announced his own reelection campaign and claimed the endorsement of L.A.’s powerful Federation of Labor last week, still figures to be well-funded and has largely retained the support of the burgeoning L.A. progressive bloc that vaulted him into office in 2020.

    But in a sign of the divide in the race, Gascón declined to attend the first debate last week. Hosted by police unions that spent millions against the progressive candidate in 2020, contenders at the forum spent two hours making the case that Gascón is unfit for office and needs to be replaced.

    Here are the contenders vying for Gascón’s office next March, listed in the order they announced their candidacy:

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    James Queally

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