Jayleen Rivas-Rodriguez, Jorge Suarez-Santiago Sentenced
A man has been sentenced to state prison after pleading guilty in connection with
his 22-month-old son’s fatal fentanyl overdose in Allentown
, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announced on Monday, July 21.
Allentown police
Jorge Suarez-Santiago, 33, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child, and possession of a controlled substance. The charges stem from the April 2021 death of his toddler, Johansy Suarez-Rivas.
Suarez-Santiago entered the plea before Judge Anna-Kristie M. Marks on March 27, 2025. He was sentenced at a hearing on Monday.
The toddler’s mother, Jayleen Rivas-Rodriguez, 36, was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison on May 5 after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child. Both parents were originally charged with third-degree murder, but those charges were withdrawn as part of plea deals.
Police were called to St. Luke’s Hospital-Sacred Heart on April 5, 2021, after the child was found unresponsive. He was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. A forensic pathologist ruled his death was caused by fentanyl toxicity, with 16.5 nanograms per millimeter of fentanyl found in his heart blood.
Investigators say both parents had used heroin in the hours before the child’s death.
Rivas-Rodriguez allegedly left Johansy at their 106 N. 8th Street apartment with Suarez-Santiago, knowing he was visibly intoxicated. She had also given him what she believed to be heroin before leaving for several hours with two other children.
Johansy was found unresponsive when she returned.
The investigation revealed the child was exposed to and ingested a lethal dose of fentanyl while in his parents’ care. Prosecutors said the couple consciously disregarded the danger their drug use posed to their son.
The case was investigated by Allentown Police Detective Joseph Beiner and the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office, and prosecuted by DA Holihan and Chief Deputy District Attorney Sara A. Moyer.
