U.S. Joins Probe of Baby’s Death

Federal authorities said Monday they are investigating whether members of a Southern California family were illegally importing and selling prescription drugs that may be connected to the death last month of an 18-month-old girl.

A federal grand jury in San Diego has started probing allegations that Mexican pharmaceuticals may have been smuggled across the border from Tijuana by members of the family, law enforcement sources said.

The toddler, Selene Segura Rios of Anaheim, died last month after receiving an injection at a Tustin store owned and operated by Oscar E. King and his sister, Laura Escalante.

In addition to the federal smuggling probe, Tustin and Santa Ana police are investigating whether members of the King family were the source of the drugs injected into the baby. King, whose name appears on Tustin city records as the owner of Los Hermanos gift store--where baby Selene was injected--has told The Times that he turned the store over to his sister last year.

Police are awaiting the result of tests to identify the substance that was injected into the baby and whether it caused her death.

Oscar King and Laura Escalante could not be reached for comment. State drug investigators and Santa Ana police last week made a surprise search of businesses owned by Rosa King, Oscar’s sister, but turned up no illegal pharmaceuticals, state and local investigators said.

Tustin police Lt. Mike Shanahan said his agency has been sharing information with federal investigators, though the focus of the two probes differs.

“Our concern is, can these people who worked in the Los Hermanos gift shop shed light on what caused this child’s death?” Shanahan said. “[The federal] investigation is focusing on the smuggling end of things.”

He said Tustin police called federal authorities soon after baby Selene’s death to identify the medicine found at the gift shop and learned of the federal probe into drug smuggling.

Jud Bohrer, head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s criminal investigations office in San Diego, confirmed that members of the King family are the subject of a federal probe by his agency. He said they also are being investigated by the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. attorney’s office, but declined to be more specific.

A federal prosecution carries the potential for felony charges and longer sentences. Violations of the state health and safety code are misdemeanors.

Police say Oscar King and his father, Manuel Javier King, were arrested in October 1992, in connection with the illegal sale of birth control pills at an Orange swap meet. Both were convicted of misdemeanors.

Rosa King was convicted in 1998 on one count of selling misbranded drugs at her two stores in Santa Ana, state investigators said. She was put on three years probation and fined $4,500.