Police and child-welfare officials continue investigating after the medical examiner confirmed a fatal overdose but could not determine its intent.
ENFIELD, Conn. — The completed autopsy of 12-year-old Eve Rogers has given investigators a confirmed medical cause of death but no definitive answer about how the fatal overdose occurred, leaving a months-long police investigation open.
Rogers died from acute intoxication involving diphenhydramine, fluoxetine and bupropion, according to Connecticut’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Her manner of death was classified as undetermined because officials could not establish whether the overdose was accidental, intentional or caused by another person. Enfield police say they are continuing to investigate those possibilities and whether additional charges are supported by the evidence.
The finding adds an important piece to an investigation that began March 18, when Rogers was found unresponsive inside her Elm Street home and pronounced dead at the scene. Police said pills were found nearby. Investigators subsequently searched the home several times and obtained warrants for digital devices and other records as they sought to reconstruct the events before her death.
Search warrants released during the summer showed that Rogers had approximately 23,000 nanograms per milliliter of diphenhydramine in her blood. The records cited 4,390 nanograms per milliliter as a documented lethal concentration for a child. Diphenhydramine is commonly sold under the Benadryl brand name. Fluoxetine and bupropion are commonly sold as Prozac and Wellbutrin.
Investigators also documented a bottle of sleep medication containing diphenhydramine in the home. According to the warrants, the container originally held 250 capsules but had only three left when police discovered it near the bed used by Rogers’ mother and stepfather. Rogers’ mother told investigators she controlled the medication and had given it to her daughter as a sleep aid. Authorities have not publicly established how much Rogers took, when she took it or whether another person was involved.
The death investigation became intertwined with a separate criminal case after evidence collected following Rogers’ death led police to arrest her stepfather, Anthony Federline. Federline, 39, was charged April 2 with first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. Court records say forensic testing identified Federline as a contributor to DNA evidence recovered during a sexual assault examination. He has pleaded not guilty.
Federline’s pending sexual-assault case does not establish responsibility for Rogers’ death. He has not been charged with homicide. Earlier search warrants showed police were seeking evidence relating to possible murder along with sexual assault and risk of injury, but a search warrant describes what investigators believe they have grounds to look for; it is not a finding that a crime occurred or that a particular person committed it.
The medical examiner’s undetermined classification is therefore significant for what it does not resolve. Investigators now have an official finding that drug intoxication caused Rogers’ death, but the autopsy does not identify who was responsible for the drugs entering her system or whether criminal conduct caused the overdose. That distinction leaves police dependent on other evidence, including witness interviews, forensic records, electronic communications and evidence gathered from the home.
The state Department of Children and Families is also continuing its review. The agency had received a report involving Rogers shortly before her death after police encountered her away from home during the early morning hours. DCF previously said it had been investigating that report for about a week when she died and later joined law enforcement in examining both the circumstances of her death and allegations of sexual abuse.
Enfield Police Chief Alaric Fox said the case remains active and investigators are considering multiple possibilities. No additional charge related to Rogers’ death had been announced as of Oct. 25. Unless new evidence allows officials to determine how the overdose occurred, the medical examiner’s classification of the manner of death will remain undetermined.
Author note: Last updated Oct. 25, 2026.