Prosecutors say surveillance video and medical findings contradicted her account of a light rail attack.

SEATTLE, Wash. — A Seattle woman has been charged with manslaughter after prosecutors said her 11-month-old son died from acute fentanyl intoxication in 2024 and investigators rejected her claim that a stranger exposed them during a transit station attack.

Safarah Rotaya Red, 33, is accused in King County Superior Court of recklessly causing the child’s death after a police investigation that lasted more than a year. Prosecutors say the case now rests on several pieces of evidence, including her 911 call, apartment and transit surveillance footage, drug testing history, items found in her apartment and an autopsy that pointed to both acute poisoning and likely chronic exposure.

The case began in the early morning hours of Oct. 26, 2024, when Red called 911 around 2 a.m. and reported that her son was not breathing. According to the police account cited in court filings, Red told dispatchers that an unknown man had attacked her about three hours earlier at a south Seattle light rail station. She said he forced a white substance into her mouth, that it “tasted like fentanyl,” and that her infant might have been exposed during the attack. Dispatcher notes said Red sounded high or intoxicated and was too upset to follow CPR instructions. She repeated, “I’m sorry,” while the child was unresponsive, according to the arrest report.

Police said officers went to Red’s apartment but she did not open the door. They forced entry and found the baby dead and cold to the touch on a mattress on the floor, according to the charging documents. Red was inside crying and repeating apologies, investigators said. Officers reported finding used Narcan cartridges near the child’s body, and Red was later taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment related to drug intoxication. In her statement to police, Red said she had made the baby a bottle after returning home, passed out, woke up to find him foaming at the mouth and tried several doses of Narcan before placing him in the shower because she had seen that done on television.

Investigators later reviewed surveillance video from transit stations, buses and Red’s apartment building, according to the court record. Police said they were unable to find video showing the attack Red described at the time and place she gave them. Investigators said the footage instead showed Red getting off at Rainier Beach, boarding a bus and later entering her apartment building with the child in a stroller. The apartment video became a key point for prosecutors because it allegedly showed Red in the mailroom singing and dancing while pushing the stroller, behavior prosecutors said was not consistent with a person who had just survived a violent attack. While Red was still on the phone with 911, cameras also allegedly recorded her throwing two trash bags down a chute. Prosecutors said the contents were never recovered and remain unknown.

The medical findings deepened the case against Red. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the baby died from acute fentanyl intoxication, according to the filings. A pathologist also noted the presence of norfentanyl, a metabolite produced when the body processes fentanyl. Prosecutors said the norfentanyl level indicated likely chronic exposure to the drug, not only a single sudden event. Investigators said they recovered drug paraphernalia and a cup containing fentanyl powder from Red’s apartment. Those findings led prosecutors to argue that Red had access to fentanyl and had created a false story to move suspicion away from herself.

Charging documents also point to earlier contact between Red and the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Child protective workers were contacted after the child’s birth in November 2023 because of drug use concerns, according to a fatality review cited in reports on the case. Hospital staff said Red tested positive for methadone and fentanyl and had used fentanyl during pregnancy. A caseworker later discussed the lethality of fentanyl around children, including the need to wash hands and change clothes after use. Red showed the worker Narcan and a lockbox, and she told officials she understood the risk. Prosecutors said records showed she later tested positive for fentanyl at least four times while denying continued use to her DCYF worker.

Red’s attorney, Madeline Mashon, asked the court to release her on electronic home detention, saying Red had no criminal history, had ties to the community and had not been accused of new crimes in the months between the child’s death and the filing of charges. Mashon wrote that Red recognized the seriousness of the charge and the tragedy of the circumstances. The defense also said Red was sober and had been a victim of domestic violence. Prosecutors opposed release, arguing that Red had been warned about fentanyl’s danger to children and still left the baby in a setting where he could obtain a deadly narcotic. A judge set bail at $500,000.

Seattle police arrested Red on March 11, 2026, and prosecutors filed the manslaughter charge the next day. She has pleaded not guilty, and the charge remains an allegation unless proven in court. The case is moving through King County Superior Court as prosecutors continue to rely on the surveillance timeline, medical examiner findings and prior child welfare records. Red remains held on the $500,000 bail order as the next court steps proceed.

Author note: Last updated April 29, 2026.