PHILADELPHIA -- The mother of an 11-month-old who died after ingesting heroin is facing murder charges, authorities announced during a press conference Friday.

The Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office determined Tuesday that Niccolo Varner died from ingesting heroin on July 15.

Paramedics were called to his Lincoln Avenue home and he was rushed to Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital, but police say the baby had died long before ever being taken to the hospital.

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The boy's mother, Christine Rivero, is now charged with third-degree murder, criminal homicide, reckless endangerment of a child and aggravated assault in connection with her son's death, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said at Friday's press conference. 

Authorities said Friday that Rivero put Niccolo in a tub with his 5-year-old brother and left the bathroom to go outside and do heroin with her friends.

During that time, police said, Niccolo ingested the heroin.

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Niccolo Varner was 11 months old when he died on July 15.

"We don't know how the child received such a large amount of heroin in the child's system. We can only conclude that it was either given to the child or the child consumed it on his own by somehow accessing heroin on the premises," Whelan said. "We don't have that information at this point in time ... We can not determine if the child was given heroin by his mother."

Police say that the baby fell and hit his head while in the tub and they were surprised to learn from the toxicology report that he had died from heroin ingestion and not drowning.

The children's father, Victor Varner, was asleep in the house at the time of the incident. After extensive interviews, police determined that Victor is not to blame for his son's death.

He was granted sole custody of the couple's 5-year-old son.

Rivero's bail is set at $1 million.

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LOS ANGELES -- The family of a 15-year-old girl who died of an Ecstasy overdose after a rave at the Coliseum in 2010 has settled in court for $190,000, the lawyer for the family said on Saturday.

Sasha Rodriguez died after the Electric Daisy Carnival dance party at LA’s historic sports venue in a high-profile case that led to the arrests of two former Coliseum executives and a grand jury indictment investigating public corruption.

Rodriguez was underage; the party was intended for those 16 and older.

See the original report, video at NBCLosAngeles.com

Some $175,00 will be paid to her family on behalf of the rave concert promoter, Insomniac Inc., and the Coliseum Commission. Coliseum manager Todd DeStefano will pay $15,000, said Steven D. Archer, a lawyer for Sasha’s parents.

A lawyer for Insomniac, Gary Jay Kaufman, told the Los Angeles Times that Rodriguez’s death was not the promoter's fault.

"Insomniac was sued for who we were, not what we did," he told The Times in a statement. "If Sasha Rodriguez had snuck into the Hollywood Bowl during a Barry Manilow concert and overdosed on some drug, there never would have been a lawsuit.

"Insomniac did not admit any wrongdoing or liability as part of the settlement because they did not in fact do anything wrong."

In a case unrelated to Sasha’s death, prosecutors said in March that six people, including three former top managers for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, were indicted on conspiracy, embezzlement and bribery charges for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from the stadium.

A Los Angeles County grand jury indicted DeStefano, Coliseum general manager Patrick Lynch, former technical manager Leopold Caudillo Jr., music and event promoters Pasquale Rotella and Reza Gerami, and janitorial contractor Antonio Estrada.

The indictment alleged that Lynch, 55, and DeStefano, 39, participated in a variety of schemes beginning in 2006 that siphoned money from the city- and county-owned stadium into their own pockets, prosecutors said.

Las Vegas embraces rave shunned by Los Angeles

DeStefano, who quit in January 2011, allegedly received more than $1.8 million from Insomniac, the company that produced the Electric Daisy Carnival, and Go Ventures, which also sponsored Coliseum events, the District Attorney said.

"The only thing $190,000 settles is which side had better lawyers,” LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who sits on the panel, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this settlement compounds the tragic death of Sasha Rodriguez."

The Coliseum briefly imposed a moratorium on rave events at the venue following Rodriguez's death.

A lawyer for DeStefano declined to comment.

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