A Tarrant woman has been charged in connection with the death of her toddler this past summer.

Tarrant police on Tuesday announced formal charges against Farrah Bates in the July 18 drug overdose death of 2-year-old Ariyah Crawford.

The death investigation, and the lack of charges until this week, has been a point of contention between Mayor Wayman Newton and Police Chief Wendell Major in their ongoing feud. The mayor believed charges should have been brought in Ariyah’s death, and Major had said the investigation was ongoing awaiting toxicology reports.

About 4 p.m. on July 18, Tarrant police were dispatched to the 2200 block of Old Pinson Highway in Tarrant regarding an unresponsive 2-year-old girl.

When they arrived, police said, Ariyah did not have a pulse.

“According to the parents, including Farrah Bates, the juvenile was sleeping along with her (mother) in bed,’’ a Tarrant press release stated.

Newton previously said the toddler was home with her mother while the father was at work. When the father returned home at 3:30 p.m., he found “Ariyah Crawford lifeless, lips were blue while the mother was asleep.”

Ariyah was taken to Children’s of Alabama where she was pronounced.

An autopsy showed Ariyah had fentanyl in her system at the time of her death.

Newton suspended Major and filed a lawsuit against him last week. The Tarrant City Council on Monday reinstated the chief, and Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Ballard today dismissed Newton’s lawsuit .

While Major was on suspension, the interim police chief ordered the investigation to resume.

Bates is charged with reckless manslaughter, a Class B felony, and chemical endangerment of exposing a child to controlled substances, a Class A felony.

Bates is expected to turn herself in today at the Jefferson County Jail.

Anyone with additional information on the case is asked to call Cpl. Williamson at 205-948-3218 or Detective Crosby at 205-849-2811.