Grizzly 24 Hours Of Fentanyl Deaths, Mayhem In Riverside

RIVERSIDE, CA — It was a rough week for Riverside police, who continue to see an uptick in fentanyl use.

At about 11:18 a.m. Monday, paramedics were called to a grocery store on Magnolia Avenue in response to reports of a 3-year-old boy in medical distress.

The victim was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where patrol officers were summoned after the child's mother, 29-year-old Joshulyn Denise Penniman of Riverside, attempted to "interfere with the hospital's care of her son," according to Officer Ryan Railsback of the Riverside Police Department.

"Soon after, it was discovered the child had fentanyl in his bloodstream and overdosed," he said.

The boy was stabilized and is in recovery.

Detectives initiated an investigation that uncovered the victim, "his 2-year-old sister, 5-year-old brother and parents had been experiencing homelessness for the past few months and were living in their car," the police spokesman said.

Railsback said the 2-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy were examined and "also tested positive for fentanyl ... after (they) were possibly exposed to the drug in the car."

Penniman and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Kamron Charles Sanders of Riverside, were taken into custody without incident Monday night on suspicion of exposing the kids to fentanyl. The children were placed in the care of county Department of Child Protective Services personnel.

Sanders, a probationer, and Penniman have each been charged with three counts of child cruelty, with sentence-enhancing allegations of inflicting great bodily injury and taking advantage of a position of trust to commit a criminal offense.

The pair pleaded not guilty during a joint arraignment Wednesday, after which Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gary Polk scheduled the preliminary hearing for June 21. The hearing will determine whether there's sufficient evidence to try the defendants on all counts.

Both are being held on $145,000 bail — Sanders at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, and Penniman at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

According to court records, Sanders has prior convictions for embezzlement and domestic battery. Penniman has no documented prior convictions in Riverside County.

Later Monday night, Riverside police and paramedics were called to a home in Riverside's Canyon Crest neighborhood after a 34-year-old man was found dead by his family.

"Evidence of illicit drug use was found and it appears the man overdosed on fentanyl and died," according to Riverside police.

Then on Tuesday, first responders were called to the area of Citrus Street and Iowa Avenue in the city's Hunter Park neighborhood after a 36-year-old homeless woman was found unresponsive by friends.

Lifesaving efforts were attempted but the woman died at the scene.

"Evidence of illicit drug use was found and her death is suspected to have been a fentanyl overdose at this time," according to Riverside police.

“Within a 24-hour time period in Riverside, we had three children exposed to fentanyl and two adults die from it,” Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez said. “More sensible legislation is needed to help rid this poison from our neighborhoods, and your local chiefs, sheriffs, and district attorneys will continue to pressure our lawmakers until we do.”

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is manufactured in overseas labs, principally in China, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The agency says the substances are 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.

Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45 years old.

—City News Service and Patch Editor Toni McAllister contributed to this report.