Couple accused in death of child jailed

YOUNGSTOWN

The West Side couple indicted last week in the July drug overdose death of their 1-year-old daughter are both in custody.

Joshua Essad, 32, and Sara Loth, 30, were both booked into the Mahoning County jail on Monday by U.S. marshals.

A grand jury Thursday indicted the pair, of Burbank Avenue, on charges of child endangering, involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide in connection with the July 24 death of Isabelle Essad.

Essad died at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. A coroner’s report completed in December said the child died of “carfentanil toxicity.”

Carfentanil is a synthetic opiate that is many times more powerful than heroin.

The pair are expected to be arraigned today in county common pleas court.