A judge rejected a plea deal Thursday for a minimum 20-year prison sentence for a mom whose toddler died after swallowing fentanyl, calling it too lenient.

Tiffany N. Jenkins, 34, of Hobart, pleaded guilty in April to neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a level 1 felony. The charge carries a 20- to 40-year penalty.

“Fentanyl was there,” defense lawyer Roseann Ivanovich said. “The baby got into it.”

Her client got into relationships with men who “controlled” and fed her addiction, she said. Court documents show Jenkins was struggling with a heroin addiction. “I don’t think (anyone else) is facing charges,” Ivanovich said.

“It was her child,” Judge Salvador Vasquez said.

Deputy Prosecutor Jacquelyn Altpeter said Jenkins would have to live with it.

“I see your client crying,” Vasquez said. “She should be crying.”

He told lawyers he couldn’t remember giving a minimum sentence for a child’s death.

“This (was) so predictable,” he said. “Jenkins was leading herself to this point.”

A new court date is set for July 17.

Police responded at 6:30 p.m. June 4, 2023, to the 600 block of Harvest Court in Crown Point for an unresponsive 2-year-old child.

A toxicology report found Avia Jenkins had fentanyl in her system. An autopsy noted she had congested lungs with “foamy fluid” in her nose and mouth.

Paramedics tried to give the child naloxone to counteract the drugs.

Officers found the girl lying in a hallway. She didn’t have a pulse and was “cold” to the touch.

Tiffany said she might have swallowed “mint extract,” or something similar, the affidavit states.

The mother’s DCS drug test was positive for drugs, including cocaine, THC and fentanyl. The case worker noted she was “mentioned” in 28 case files.

mcolias@post-trib.com