Suspected dealer charged with murder for allegedly providing fentanyl to overdose victim
An 18-year-old from Bloomington has been charged with murder on allegations that he sold and distributed opiods that led to the overdose death of a Highland teen.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office formally charged Alfred Urrea with one count of murder for allegedly providing drugs to Adrian Alloway, an 18-year-old Highland man who died from an overdose on Aug. 23.
Alloway died from fentanyl poisoning, the DA’s office said.
Urrea is the second person in San Bernardino County to be charged with murder related to providing drugs laced with fentanyl. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department has a specialized task force whose sole mission is to combat opioid abuse and overdoses in the county.
“In cases such as this, where murder is alleged, we believe we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt the dealer knowingly understood the dangers of fentanyl, and still chose profits over human life when supplying drugs to the victim,” District Attorney Jason Anderson said in a news release Monday.
Alloway’s death comes amid rising teen overdose deaths from fentanyl across Southern California.
Melanie Ramos, a 15-year-old student at Bernstein High School in Hollywood, died after she took what she thought was a Percocet pill but turned out to be a pill laced with fentanyl.
The family of Luna Hinojosa, 14, says the Nogales High School freshman died earlier this month in La Puente after also overdosing on a fentanyl-laced drug.
The recent deaths led to the Los Angeles Unified School District making naloxone, an anti-opioid overdose medication, available at all campuses in the district.
Back in San Bernardino County, Urrea remains in jail with bail set at $1 million.
He appeared in court on Monday for his arraignment and is expected back in court for his pre-trial hearing on Tuesday.