The family of a 19-month-old girl who died from apparent exposure to fentanyl while staying at an Airbnb rental in 2021 is opening up about their story.
via People:
Enora Lavenir’s family is now suing the company, the property owner, the rental’s manager, and a renter who had hosted a party in the Wellington, Fla. unit two weeks prior to the girl’s death, per a new report from theWashington Post.
No criminal charges have been brought, and investigators were unable to find evidence of the drug in the vacation rental, according to the Post.
In August 2021, Enora was found dead in the home by her mother Lydie. As the family recalled, her face was blue with white foam coming out from her lips.
A Palm Beach County medical examiner and an independent toxicology report eventually found that the child had died of a lethal amount of fentanyl, per the Post.
“It’s like we fell into a trap,” Boris, the girl’s father, told the publication in French.
Investigators were unable to find drugs in Enora’s family’s belongings, and both parents tested negative, with nobody knowing how the toddler got hold of the drug, reports the Post.
A previous renter — who booked the home through the rental company Vrbo — reportedly told investigators that they threw a party at the location that involved cocaine, but the drugs were not tied to the girl.
Ultimately, investigators wrote that they were “unable to determine” how she ingested the drug.
“I am unable to develop probable cause for abuse or neglect leading to the death of Enora,” one investigator noted. “Currently the manner of death is listed as accidental.”
While the case is closed pending leads, the family is suing Airbnb and those behind the home rental — claiming that the lethal drug was not properly picked up following a party in the house before their stay via Airbnb.
Representatives for Vrbo — the vacation rental company which the previous renter booked the home through — did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
When asked for comment from Airbnb, a representative pointed PEOPLE to a statement they shared with the Post: “Our hearts go out to the Lavenir family and their loved ones for their devastating loss.”
Thomas Scolaro, the attorney representing the family, told the Post that finding the source of the drugs is his top priority, and that the “only thing we have here is common sense.”
“It was definitely in that unit, that Airbnb,” he added. “Which particular person left the drugs is frankly not anything I’m trying to prove. What I want to show is Airbnb provided no cleanup, no warning, no measure of safety for the family.”
Lars Noah, a law professor at the University of Florida, told the outlet that “where that fentanyl comes from, linking it to this particular group, that just sounds monstrously difficult under these circumstances.”
To determine how the child died, investigators reviewed Enora’s medical history, checked her body for bruising, tested her baby bottle for the drug and spoke with neighbors of the residence.
Reaching out to three people that rented the home before the family came in, investigators were told by one that cocaine was used on a kitchen counter at a party, but did not contain the fentanyl.
“What is certain is, Enora had contact with fentanyl in the Airbnb,” Boris said.
Good luck to the family, because that’s going to be an incredibly difficult legal battle.
