Mourning father says child died after ingesting fentanyl at mother's Lancaster home

LANCASTER, Calif. (KABC) -- "Man I'm sick and I'm miserable and I'm emotional right now. I want justice for my baby."

Montise Bulley is distraught over the death of his 17-month-old son Justin Bulley.

The toddler died Sunday while at his mother's home in Lancaster. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department detectives are investigating the death.

Montise claims his son ingested the deadly drug fentanyl at his mother's home and died.

"My son had an overdose. He swallowed a piece of fentanyl that was left carelessly around the house."

Detectives have yet to confirm exactly how the baby died and are waiting for the coroner's report.

Montise says he'll never forget getting the worst call any parent dreads.

"My son is dead. She talking about she held him in her arms trying to give him mouth to mouth and kissing him. Now he dead in the morgue."

Montise says what hurts the most is he wanted custody of his son and was doing the work to make that happen. But he says the system placed his son with his mother, only giving him visitation rights.

"Enough pain already, oh Lord. The whole system failed me. I'm blaming DCFS. They are the nucleus of this."

Montise says he also blames himself, feeling he could have tried even harder to get full custody of his son. Now it's just too late.

The county Department of Children and Family Services issued a statement:

"As an agency devoted to the safety and well-being of children, we at the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services were profoundly saddened to learn of the recent deaths of two Antelope Valley children in separate incidents.

While we recognize the public's concern for children who have been injured or whose lives have been tragically lost, we are bound by state confidentiality laws that prevent us from discussing potential involvement with families. These laws are in place to shield children and families from further emotional distress while delicate family matters are addressed.

As a reminder to the community, suspicions of child abuse or neglect may be reported 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by calling the Child Protection Hotline at 800-540-4000."