Joliet Mother Charged in Daughter’s Fatal Fentanyl Overdose

Published November 9, 2026. Collette Bancroft, 37, faces involuntary manslaughter, felony child endangerment and two charges for illegal possession of a regulated drug. Joliet police arrested her at a restaurant in Lockport after prosecutors reviewed evidence and obtained a warrant on November 5.

Emergency responders went to a home on East Washington Street on April 14, 2024, after the girl was found unresponsive in a second-floor bedroom she shared with her mother. Officers performed CPR and used Narcan before paramedics took the child to Silver Cross Hospital. She was later transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, where she died three days afterward.

Investigators said the girl had ingested heroin and fentanyl. Toxicology results and medical records later confirmed fentanyl was in her system, police said. Officers had found suspected heroin and fentanyl in Bancroft’s purse during an initial search of the bedroom. Bancroft was arrested on drug-possession charges at the time and freed with instructions to attend court. Prosecutors are seeking to keep her in jail as she awaits trial.