Baby Dies From Lethal Mix Of Fentanyl, Cocaine After Spending Night With Felon Father

A 16-month-old infant in Staten Island, New York, has died after ingesting a lethal mix of fentanyl and cocaine.

The city medical examiner deemed Sakani Kamagate's death a homicide this week, more than two months after he died on Feb. 20, the New York Daily News reported.

Sakani was being watched by his felon father, Adam Kamagate, at his home on Hamilton Avenue near Academy Place in St. George at the time of the infant's death. No one has been criminally charged in connection to the death as of this writing.

Adam told police that he picked up his child from his mother's home between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Feb. 19, and Sakani appeared fine.

The father said he and his son had dinner at 10 p.m., and Sakani went to sleep later that night at about 1 a.m.

At 4 a.m., Adam woke up and found his child unconscious in his bed. He immediately dialed 911, and medical responders rushed Sakani to Richmond University Medical Center.

However, Sakani was already in rigor mortis when he was brought to the hospital, an unnamed police source told the outlet.

The city's medical examiner ruled Sakani's death as a homicide after an autopsy revealed that the baby had ingested drugs.

It was not immediately clear who brought the drugs to Adam's home, where they were kept or how the victim came into contact with them.

But a few days after Sakani's death, Adam stopped cooperating with authorities and demanded a lawyer when police suspected a drug overdose killed the infant, unnamed sources told New York Daily News.

A search warrant on Adam's home the night after the baby's death revealed heroin and several cellphones in a pair of sweatpants, police sources told the outlet.

Sakani's maternal family remembered the infant fondly in an online obituary.

"Sakani was a super smart, adorable, loving, sweet baby who loved being around family," they wrote in the tribute for Sakani.

"He enjoyed hanging with his siblings, watching Sesame Street, and dancing whenever he heard music. Sakani also loved to help his mommy clean and care for his new little brother. Although Sakani did not have much time on this earth; he touched many hearts with his bright, vibrant spirit," the victim's maternal family added.

According to police, Sakani's father has 28 arrests on his record and was sentenced to state prison thrice between 2003 and 2020, twice for weapon possession and once for drug possession.

While on parole, Kamagate fired shots in the air outside the West Brighton Houses in 2008, which brought a massive police response and forced the suspect and his friends to surrender.

In 2012, Kamagate was named by police as a suspect in the shooting death of 21-year-old Justin Stokes in Mariner's Harbor. He managed to escape to Pennsylvania but was arrested the following year.

Kamagate was also arrested in 2014 for possessing 283 packets of heroin. He was convicted of attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance and was sentenced to four years in prison.