Nationwide — A 13-year-old girl from Goose Creek, South Carolina, was found dead at home after her mother tried to wake her for school on Aug. 27. An initial test later came back presumptively positive for fentanyl. Her parents were arrested and charged with drug possession and child-related offenses.
The teenager was found unresponsive at a home on Keyes Lane that morning. Her mother, Tracy Lyn Castillo, 37, had gone to wake her daughter when she realized she would not respond. Emergency medical workers and firefighters arrived and confirmed that the girl had died, WLBT reported.
Her father, Derrell Dominquez Joshua, 42, was also at the home when first responders arrived. Investigators then began looking into the circumstances of the girl’s death and whether fentanyl was involved. On Sept. 10, officials said an initial test showed a presumptive positive for fentanyl, but they are still waiting for a private toxicology report to determine what caused her death.
The parents were arrested the following day. Both face one count of possessing more than two grains of fentanyl and three counts of unlawfully placing a child at risk of or causing harm or willfully abandoning the child. The charges are separate from a final determination about what caused the teenager’s death.
Castillo had also been charged with similar child-related offenses before the latest case. In October 2024, she faced four counts of unlawfully placing a child at risk of or causing harm or willfully abandoning the child. The earlier charges are part of her legal history as authorities continue investigating the teenager’s death.
A final toxicology report has not yet been released, so authorities have not confirmed that fentanyl caused the girl’s death. The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the case while Castillo and Joshua face the charges filed against them.