Man and woman charged in overdose death of 6-year-old boy in Norristown

A man and woman have been charged in the July overdose death of the woman’s 6-year-old son at their home in Norristown, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Kristen Sabatino, 31, was arrested Friday at a hotel in Lancaster and was being transferred to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, prosecutors said.

Matthew Santiago, 35, was arrested Wednesday and was being held on $1 million cash bail, prosecutors said.

On July 16, Norristown police responded to a report of an unconscious boy who was not breathing on the 1000 block of Willow Street. Police found Dominic Lyons dead in his second-floor bedroom. The couple also are parents of a 2-year-old daughter but she was staying with relatives at the time.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy the next day, but needed blood tests to determine the cause of death. The test results later revealed the boy had high levels of fentanyl and xylazine, which is a veterinary sedative known on the street as “tranq.” The manner of death was ruled a homicide.

Investigators found that Sabatino and Santiago had an alleged history of drug use and had purchased and consumed illegal drugs in the days leading up to the death of the boy.

According to the criminal complaints filed in the case, text messages found on both their phones show the couple allegedly talking about buying and using drugs right before Dominic’s death, then talking after the child’s death about whether their personal drug use would be revealed in testing conducted by a caseworker from the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth.

Sabatino and Santiago were each charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child, both felonies.

In the criminal complaints for Sabatino and Santiago, investigators mentioned two earlier drug-overdose episodes involving Sabatino.

In 2017 in Upper Providence Township, Sabatino overdosed on heroin and was found unresponsive with her head lying on the chest of then-5-month-old Dominic. Sabatino was revived with nalaxone, the opioid overdose reversal medication. She pleaded guilty to felony endangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to seven years’ probation.

Last year, Sabatino was involved in a vehicle accident and was found unresponsive in the driver’s seat with her then-13-month-old daughter in a child seat.

Sabatino, who overdosed on oxycodone, was revived with nalaxone and was later charged with multiple offenses, including driving under the influence and felony endangering the welfare of a child. That case remains pending, though it was not clear on Friday whether the charge of endangering the welfare of a child was still part of the case or had been dismissed.

In the criminal complaints for Dominic’s death, investigators wrote: “Again, the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth were involved with Kristen Sabatino and Matthew Santiago because of this [2022] incident.”

A spokesperson for the Office of Children and Youth could not be reached for comment late Friday afternoon.