A SoCal woman has been convicted of murder for providing a fatal dose of fentanyl
When Esther Lopez went to her son’s room to check if he was hungry, she found him slumped over the table, cold to the touch.
She called 911 and paramedics rushed to the Moreno Valley home and began CPR, according to court documents. But it was too late. Jesse Jimenez died of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 27.
On Friday, the woman who administered the fatal dose, Savanna Michelle Carlos, 23, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison after a jury found her guilty of murder.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Office detectives found a burned fentanyl pill, tin foil and a cell phone in Jimenez’s bedroom after her death on Feb. 2, 2023, according to court documents. By examining his messages and other evidence, they determined that Carlos had given him fentanyl after he reached out to many dealers who wanted the drug.
“Why didn’t he just say no? He’s a bad person,” Lopez wrote in a statement presented at Carlos’ sentencing hearing. “A friend will pick you up when you fall, not kill you.”
Investigators also found evidence that Carlos was well aware of the dangers of fentanyl, as he was present when someone else was poisoned by the drug a few months earlier.
On July 30, 2022, Riverside County sheriff’s deputies responding to a report of an overdose found Carlos performing CPR on an unconscious man. During that time, he received a clear warning from law enforcement about fentanyl, according to court documents.
Still, he continued to sell the drug, including the dose that ultimately killed Jimenez, prosecutors said.
By analyzing social media, phone and financial records, detectives determined that he continued to sell drugs after learning that Jimenez had overdosed, according to court documents.
At Friday’s sentencing hearing, Riverside County Deputy Dest. He said. Seth DuMouchel said Carlos’ behavior shows he presents a continuing danger to the community.
“My hope is that the court understands that Jesse was more than a victim,” Jimenez’s niece, who did not want to be identified, wrote in an impact statement. “He was a son, a brother, an uncle, a family member and a friend. He was much loved, much missed.”
Prosecuting people who provide lethal doses of fentanyl with murder is a new practice in California. Riverside County adopted this approach in hopes of disrupting the drug trade and preventing overdoses.
In 2023, the Riverside County district attorney’s office obtained a guilty verdict in the first fentanyl-related homicide case, which also resulted in a 15-year-to-life sentence. Since 2021, the county has filed 44 fentanyl overdose murder charges and 29 convictions, according to an online dashboard.
Part of the success is due to new legal developments, including a voter-approved measure requiring courts to give defendants a clear warning of the dangers of fentanyl when convicted of selling or transporting the drug.
This makes it easier for prosecutors to pursue second-degree murder charges if the person later sells the lethal dose, since they can prove that the person was aware of the danger.
Prosecutors were also fortunate to obtain a conviction by working with the Department of Justice to file federal charges for distribution of fentanyl resulting in subsequent deaths. Such crimes can carry a minimum sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
