Two accused of murder in Ferndale 5-year-old’s fentanyl death face additional charges

Two people accused of murder for the early March suspected fentanyl death of a 5-year-old Ferndale girl are facing additional charges in a separate case alleging they continued selling narcotics after the child’s death.

The Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is expected to charge 32-year-old Cody Curtis Craig with three counts of delivery of a controlled substance — fentanyl, two counts of delivery of a controlled substance — methamphetamine and one count of delivery of a counterfeit controlled substance, all felonies, in Whatcom County Superior Court.

They also intend to charge 35-year-old Melissa Ann Welch with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance — fentanyl, one count of delivery of a controlled substance — methamphetamine and one count of delivery of a counterfeit controlled substance.

Formal charges had not yet been filed by the time Welch and Craig had their first appearances in the controlled substances case Friday morning, but prosecutors and the court commissioner read the anticipated charges aloud in court.

Craig, Welch and 33-year-old Michael Wayne Doane were each charged April 7 with one count of first-degree murder for the March 8 death of 5-year-old Olivia R. Doane. Each of their murder charges includes the aggravating factor that Craig, Welch and Doane knew or should have known that the child was particularly vulnerable, according to court records.

The Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet ruled on the cause and manner of the child’s death. The pathologist is working to get things completed, according to Deborah Hollis, chief investigator and operations manager with the county medical examiner’s office.

Welch and Doane are the girl’s biological parents and Craig is Welch’s boyfriend, court records show.

All three were arrested for their alleged roles in the girl’s death April 13, The Bellingham Herald previously reported.

Welch and Doane both had bail set at $1 million at their first appearances in court for the murder case April 13.

Craig had his bail set at $1 million at his first appearance in the murder case on April 18. Craig’s first appearance was continued for nearly a week after his arrest because an attorney could not be found for him.

Because Welch, Doane and Craig are all co-defendants in the murder case, the Whatcom County Public Defender’s Office can only represent one of them, requiring outside conflict attorneys to be appointed for the other two.

All three pleaded not guilty to the murder charges Friday morning, April 21.

All three remain incarcerated in the Whatcom County Jail as of Friday afternoon, according to jail records.

Controlled substances case

Craig and Welch also had their first court appearances Friday morning in the controlled substances case.

Whatcom County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Graham said Friday that Craig was connected to a large-scale drug trafficker.

Graham said Craig was selling narcotics just days after the 5-year-old girl’s death and continued “dealing drugs all the way to his arrest” in mid-April.

Graham said Craig represented a danger to the community by selling fentanyl and requested his bail be set at $250,000 in the case.

Craig’s defense attorney, Carl Munson, said Craig has lived in Whatcom County his entire life and much of his family still resides here.

Munson said Craig is “completely unable” to make the $1 million bail set in his murder case, and asked the court to set a significantly lower amount of bail in the drug case.

Whatcom County Superior Court Commissioner Ann Vetter-Hansen ultimately set Craig’s bail in the controlled substances case at $200,000.

Graham, the prosecutor, said Welch is alleged to have been the contact person and provided a location for one of the drug deliveries. He asked the commissioner to set Welch’s bail at $150,000.

Welch’s defense attorney, Ryan Swinburnson, said Welch’s alleged involvement in the crime was “minimal at best” and said the charges were not supported by the charging document.

He asked the court to set her bail at $5,000.

The commissioner set Welch’s bail in the drug case at $75,000.

Craig and Welch are expected to have their arraignments in their controlled substances cases April 28.