Wilkens Adonis, who pleaded guilty in narcotics death of 14-month-old son, sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison

A Holbrook man on Wednesday was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison for the death of his 14-month-old son, who ingested drugs left out in his parents' bedroom.

Wilkens Adonis, 39, pleaded guilty in March to second-degree manslaughter after his son Joseph was found unresponsive in the home on Jan. 3, 2024.

The boy was taken by ambulance to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he died of "an acute mixed drug intoxication," Suffolk County prosecutors said, including a mixture of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl.

Police later found drug paraphernalia in the couple’s room where the toddler slept, leading to charges against Adonis and his girlfriend, Daryllee Leibrock, 39. An 11-year-old child also lived in the apartment, prosecutors said.

Narcotics detectives served a search warrant and recovered more than one-eighth of an ounce of a mixture of heroin and fentanyl; more than one-eighth of an ounce of cocaine; alprazolam, known as Xanax; methadone; and drug packaging materials and scales, prosecutors said.

Police also recovered a stun gun, a loaded shotgun, and a rifle, which were easily accessible to children in the home, prosecutors said.

"The death of 14-month-old Joseph Adonis was as preventable as it was tragic," Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement. "Fentanyl should not be in houses where children reside. This should be a wake-up call to our state lawmakers. They need to make common sense changes to our laws to protect children."

Adonis pleaded guilty March 17 to manslaughter, felony criminal possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child, in a plea deal.

Following his guilty plea, Adonis told a judge that he "takes full responsibility" for the crimes, Newsday previously reported.

Adonis' attorney, Matthew Tuohy, said Adonis was an addict and had been unable to speak about his son's death. He said Adonis took several parenting classes while in jail.

"He was devastated obviously and loves his kids," Tuohy said. "He had a bad drug problem and made some tremendous mistakes and owned up to them. He put in the work to try to be a better person."

Joseph’s mother faces the same charges in a 28-count indictment and has pleaded not guilty. Her attorney, John Halverson, said Wednesday that her case is still pending during plea negotiations. She is scheduled to appear in court next week. 

At the time of Joseph's death, Leibrock was prohibited by a Suffolk County Family Court order of protection from being near her two children. She was also restricted from "possessing illegal drugs that created an unreasonable risk to the health, safety, or welfare of either child." 

With Grant Parpan

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.