Temecula Poisoning Death Helps Spark Change In OC

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A Temecula dad and many, many other parents who've lost children to fentanyl poisoning have persuaded the Orange County District Attorney to pursue murder charges against drug dealers who peddle deadly substances that kill unsuspecting victims.

During a Tuesday news conference held by OC DA Todd Spitzer and joined by Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin, it was announced that Orange County will issue admonishments to snared drug dealers, warning them that if they choose to sell drugs in the future and someone dies, they could be charged with murder.

Spitzer took a page from Hestrin, who announced earlier this year that admonishments had begun for fentanyl dealers in Riverside County.

According to the prosecutors, the admonishments make it easier to get a murder conviction if a dealer sells drugs after prison release and an unsuspecting buyer dies from the illicit substance.

San Diego County is also issuing an advisory, according to Spitzer, who said the practice is "spotty" statewide.

The admonishments are similar to the "Watson murder rule" used when filing a second-degree murder charge against an intoxicated driver who ends up killing someone in a crash. The rule argues that intoxicated drivers have "implied malice" — they know ahead of time that their actions can have deadly consequences.

In Riverside County, seven people have been charged with murder involving fentanyl, and three more cases are likely coming up, according to Hestrin, who said the county is on track to lose 500-600 people this year to fentanyl.

Spitzer said the Orange County coroner's office currently has 450 deaths awaiting toxicology reports — and nearly all the victims, he believes, were poisoned by fentanyl.

"Almost every drug on the black market contains fentanyl," Spitzer said. "I'm not going to let drug dealers get away with murder."

Spitzer said the admonishments will be issued to all snared drug dealers in his county.

Fentanyl is not marketed to end-users. Instead, counterfeit oxycodone, Percocet, Xanax, and other medications are made with junk filler and laced with fentanyl. The fake pills are pressed in unsterile environments and made to look like real prescription meds. They cost little to make, so the profit margin is greater.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid often manufactured in China. Mexican drug cartels buy the narcotic and are mainly responsible for the fake pills circulating throughout the United States, according to law enforcement.

Most people who consume fentanyl have no idea they are taking it. Many parents who've lost kids to the substance believe their kids were poisoned to death. A few of those families gave emotional testimony during Tuesday's news conference.

"In a flash, she was gone," explained Temecula dad Matt Capelouto.

He and his wife lost their 20-year-old daughter, Alexandra, on Dec. 23, 2019, to fentanyl poisoning after she took one pill marketed to her as oxycodone by a drug dealer she found on Snapchat. Alexandra's mom found her dead in her room. The 2017 Great Oak High School graduate was on holiday break from college.

Since losing their daughter, the Capeloutos have been fierce proponents of changing the fentanyl conversation.

A bill named in memory of Alexandra that would have made admonishments the law in California failed in the legislature earlier this year.

Although the bill didn't pass, the Capeloutos have influenced many California leaders.

"The word overdose does not accurately describe this crime," Matt Capelouto said. "The pill [Alexandra] took was fake. It was filled with fentanyl."

She was poisoned to death, he explained.

Led by the Capeloutos, the website druginducedhomicide.org has launched to help raise awareness about the fentanyl crisis.

Amy Neville lost her 14-year-old son, Alexander, to fentanyl. He was a skateboard-loving middle-schooler who started experimenting with cannabis — and then oxycodone, Amy said during Tuesday's news conference. He bought a fake oxycodone pill online that contained fentanyl. It killed him.

"I don't want any more people to die," the grieving mother said.

Perla Mendoza lost her only son, Daniel, last year. He had been prescribed Xanax for depression, and when his meds ran out he turned to Snapchat. He bought one counterfeit pill online that turned out to be laced with a deadly amount of fentanyl. He did not survive.

Through tears, Mendoza pleaded with drug dealers during Tuesday's news conference.

"You're ruining families' lives," she said.

To parents, Mendoza warned, "This can happen to any of us."

It only takes about 2 milligrams of fentanyl to kill a human, according to officials.

"There is no safe way to use or sell fentanyl," Hestrin said earlier this year in a news conference. "Fentanyl is lethal to the human body. It's a menace; people are dying."