Man, 18, Charged With Providing Deadly Fentanyl Dose To Another

JURUPA VALLEY, CA — An 18-year-old man who allegedly supplied a deadly dose of fentanyl to a Jurupa Valley teenager pleaded not guilty Monday to second- degree murder and other charges.

Sammy Bryan Estrada of Riverside was arrested in October following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into the death of the boy, identified in court documents only as "K.T."

Along with murder, Estrada is charged with two counts each of transportation of controlled substances for sale and possession of illegal drugs.

He was arraigned before Superior Court Judge Gail O'Rane, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Feb. 2 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Estrada is free on a $1 million bond.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Sean Liebrand, on the afternoon of July 24, deputies were sent to a residence in the 6400 block of Etiwanda Avenue to investigate reports of a comatose youth.

Despite first responders' attempts to resuscitate him, K.T. was pronounced dead at the scene, Liebrand said.

He said an autopsy revealed "the teen died as a result of fentanyl poisoning."

"Investigators worked to identify the person responsible for selling the fentanyl that killed the teenager," the sergeant said. "As a result of their efforts, the suspect was identified as Sammy Estrada."

There was no word on how the defendant and victim were acquainted.

An arrest warrant was obtained, but when deputies attempted to serve it on Estrada on Oct. 11 as he sat in his vehicle at a property in the 9500 block of Miller Street in Riverside, "he fled the area at a high rate of speed" and couldn't be located, according to Liebrand.

Nearly two weeks later, Estrada was spotted driving in the area of Murrieta Hot Springs and Whitewood roads in Murrieta, where he was taken into custody without incident.

"During a search of Estrada's vehicle, evidence indicative of narcotic sales, which included suspected counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, was located," Liebrand said.

The defendant has no prior documented felony convictions.

Since February 2021, more than two dozen people countywide have been charged with murder in connection with fentanyl poisonings.

According to public safety officials, there were 503 confirmed fentanyl-related fatalities countywide last year, compared to just under 400 in 2021, a 200-fold increase from 2016, when there were only two.

Fentanyl is manufactured in overseas labs, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which says the synthetic opioid is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border by cartels. The drug is 80-100 times more potent than morphine and can be mixed into any number of street narcotics and prescription drugs, without a user knowing what he or she is consuming. Ingestion of only two milligrams can be fatal.