Wilkens Adonis tells judge 'losing a son is more than anything,' as he takes plea deal in tot's drug OD death

The father of a Holbrook toddler who died of an overdose last year admitted storing fentanyl, heroin and cocaine in the bedroom where his son slept as he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges Monday.

Wilkens Adonis, 39, will serve 5 to 15 years in state prison under a plea agreement offered by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. He had faced up to 25 years behind bars on a top charge of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

"I take full responsibility for everything that happened," Adonis told acting Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Philip Goglas in Riverhead after entering his plea. "Losing a son is more than anything."

"I don't know that I could forgive myself," he continued, adding that he felt "ashamed."

In addition to manslaughter, Adonis pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and endangering the welfare of a child, but those sentences would run concurrently to the longer manslaughter sentence under the terms of the agreement, Assistant District Attorney Robert Archer told the judge.

Joseph Adonis, who was one day shy of 14 months old, died after he was found by police unresponsive in his home on Jan. 3, 2024, prosecutors said. Inside the home police found over one-eighth ounce of a mixture of heroin and fentanyl, and over one-eighth ounce of cocaine, as well as alprazolam, which is also known as Xanax, methadone, drug packaging material, scales, an electronic stun gun, a loaded shotgun and a rifle, prosecutors said.

In court Monday, Adonis admitted storing the drugs in the room where the child slept and said he was engaged in the sale of drugs. He also admitted not securing the weapons in the apartment, where an older son also lived.

"He had a drug problem, there was obviously a substance addiction problem among other things," Adonis' defense attorney Matthew Tuohy, of Huntington, said following the plea hearing. "He lost his son and it really tore him up. He had a tough time in jail with that. Obviously he loved his son very much and his family. So he wanted to accept responsibility for his actions and move forward in a positive way."

Adonis confirmed in court that the boy's mother, Darylee Leibrock, who is also charged in the 28-count indictment, found Joseph unresponsive around 8 that morning and called 911. After police arrived and saw the boy was still not responsive, he was taken via ambulance to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, prosecutors have said.

Leibrock is due back in court Tuesday after previously pleading not guilty to the indictment. Her attorney, John Halverson, of Patchogue, said plea negotiations are ongoing in her case.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said last January that an autopsy by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office concluded the toddler's cause of death was acute mixed-drug intoxication.

Wilkens Adonis has prior convictions for felony and misdemeanor drug possession and attempted assault dating back to 2009, prosecutors have said. He served more than a year in jail for those crimes.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.