A mother whose child died after ingesting fentanyl has pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death.

Nicole Eidt, 28, appeared in a Kitchener courtroom Thursday. Her daughter, Amelia Runstedler, was 20 months old when she died in February this year.

Police say they were called to a residence on Heritage Drive in Kitchener on Feb. 21, 2019, and found the child with no vital signs. Officers performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Amelia was pronounced dead in hospital.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Eidt was heard screaming hysterically that morning by other people who lived in the home.

Police arrived at the home at 12:05 p.m. and found Eidt performing CPR on her daughter. Eidt told one of the officers, "I am not a victim ... I am a culprit."

She explained she had been using fentanyl and had fallen asleep with her daughter in the room. When she woke up, she found Amelia "limp and not breathing on the bed," the statement says.

"She puts everything in her mouth," Eidt told the officer. "She grabs everything. Oh my god, I killed her. Oh my god."

Police said a dime bag of drugs found on Eidt's bed had a blue, crystal substance in it and parts of it appeared to be wet.

At the hospital, doctors noticed the little girls hand was "stained blue by an unknown substance." Eidt was told her daughter was dead at 1:30 p.m.

A toxicology report showed the little girl had carfentanil and fentanyl in her system, as well as naloxone that was administered by first responders and/or at the hospital, and nalorphine, an antidote used to reverse an opioid overdose, which had been given to her at the hospital.

At the time of Amelia's death, her father was in custody at the Maplehurst Detention Centre in Milton. That is where officers informed him of his daughter's death.

Wearing glasses and her hair pulled back, an emotional Eidt told the court Thursday how deeply she regrets her daughter's death.

"No words will ever be able to fix what I've done," Eidt said.

Eidt told the court she was using drugs when she found out she was pregnant, but that she got sober before giving birth to a "beautiful baby girl."

Over time, she said she put her sobriety on the back burner, which she now realizes was the wrong decision. She told the court she will never stop fighting against her addiction or let her daughter's death be in vain.

Eidt also said she wants to apologize to everyone she hurt "with her carelessness" that morning, especially her baby girl.

"I will never forgive myself," she said.

Eidt's defense lawyer has asked for a sentence of between 12 and 18 months.

Crown attorney Jane Young has asked for five to seven years. She said that although no amount of time will bring Amelia back, the sentence should send a message to others who would use drugs in the presence of vulnerable people.

A decision is expected later this month.