INDIANAPOLIS-- Marion County prosecutors have charged a mother with Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Death after her 10-month old daughter died from a fentanyl overdose.
Sanyla Irby died in July 2024 at an Indianapolis hospital.
An autopsy listed the cause of death as “complications of fentanyl intoxication” and the manner as “accidental.”
Sanyla’s mother, Skyra Irby, is criminally charged in connection with her baby’s death.
On July 12, Skyra Irby found Sanyla in her pack n play “cold to the touch” and started CPR, but it wasn’t working, according to court documents.
A detective with IMPD obtained a search warrant for an apartment on Sebring Court and found a backpack with blue M30 pills, which are typically made with fentanyl.
At that time, the detective requested the hospital run a full toxicology report on Sanyla.
Irby informed a Indiana Department of Child Services family case manager that her address was actually on Centurion Circle, where the incident with Sanyla took place, court documents allege.
IMPD executed a search warrant on the apartment on August 15 and learned the tenants had prompted “numerous narcotics complaints” and were evicted on August 7.
A lab report from Sebring Court revealed the narcotics found were fentanyl, heroin, marijuana and bromazolam.
The detective noted that at no time did Skyra Irby notify hospital staff that her baby had possibly ingested any type of narcotics.
Irby has two other children who are in the care of the Indiana Department of Child Services, according to court documents.
Skyra Irby is currently in the Marion County jail and is scheduled for an initial hearing Tuesday at 10 am.
No attorney is listed for Irby.
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So far in 2025, we know of at least eight other people charged in connection with child abuse or neglect in Marion County alone:
- Death of Skylar Gardner
- Death of Daisy Phillips
- Death of Asher Robinson
- Death of Kayden Gavarette
- Death of Gwendolyn Cooksey
In the child fatality report just released for calendar year 2023, the Indiana Department of Child Services investigated 261 child deaths.
21 percent of those deaths were determined to be a direct result of caregiver maltreatment, according to the 2023 Child Abuse and Neglect Fatality Report.
20 deaths were due to abuse, and 36 fatalities were due to neglect, according to the report.
