Santa Rosa man linked to 4 alleged overdose of fentanyl faces drug positions as prosecutors weigh a homicide case

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A man from Santa Rosa accused of selling cocaine with fentanyl to local high school students who died during the weekend He appeared in court on Tuesday but has not been formally accused of his death. Prosecutors said they need more time to review the case, although he remains in custody for separate positions related to drugs related to non -fatal overdose of two other local students.

Tuesday’s hearing was the first time that the authorities publicly linked the death of Gia Walsh, 16, a third year student of the Santa Rosa high school, and Logan Camp, 18, last year student in Montgomery High School, to the hospitalizations of two teenagers. Until now, the researchers had not confirmed if the cases were connected.

Police arrested Ramon Núñez, 21, in Sunday afternoon In Santa Rosa Avenue after identifying it as the alleged distributor in the overdose of Walsh and Camp. The researchers say that they sold to adolescents what they thought it was cocaine, but suspect that it contained fentanil.

Initially he was hired under suspicion of second degree homicide and narcotics supply to a minor, although prosecutors said Tuesday that they need more time to determine whether to chase homicide charges.

Prosecutors weigh homicide charges

Sonoma County District Prosecutor, Carla Rodríguez, told the Democrat of the press after the hearing that prosecutors must prove that Núñez knew that drugs were potentially lethal before presenting second -degree homicide charges.

“The problem is your knowledge,” Rodríguez said. “Then, any other victim, any other buyer who is injured, anything that demonstrates his knowledge of the danger of his actions is relevant.”

During the hearing, the attached prosecutor Thom Gotshall told Judge Troye Shaffer that prosecutors are still evaluating charges and that Núñez It could be released before the judge ordered him to return to the Court on April 28.

A public defender helped Núñez in the Court on Tuesday, but has not yet been officially appointed to represent him.

After the procedures, Rodríguez clarified that Núñez was no longer related to the two deaths, but that he remains imprisoned for charges of serious crimes related to non -fatal overdose. His bond was set at $ 2 million.

New positions presented

On Tuesday afternoon, prosecutors formally accused Núñez of two serious crimes of providing drugs to a minor.

Both positions include additional accusations or improvements that the victims were more than four years younger than him. A count also had an improvement for causing large bodily injuries.

Núñez will appear in the Court on Wednesday morning for these positions.

These charges come from a separate case that involves the two teenagers who were hospitalized During the weekend with alleged fentanyl overdose, Rodríguez said.

Rodríguez refused to say if the four teenagers knew each other, citing the ongoing investigation.

Four friends of one of the victims attended the audience on Tuesday, but refused to talk to journalists.

Overdose and arrest timeline

The Santa Rosa Police said that the two surviving teenagers were discovered around 5:15 am on Saturday, but because they are minors, the authorities have not published more details.

Then, at 8:15 pm on Saturday, a friend found camp and Walsh without responding in a room in a house in the 2100 block of Brookwood Avenue, near the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. The emergency teams responded, but both teenagers were declared dead on the scene.

The researchers found evidence of drug use in the house, along with information that identified Núñez as the alleged distributor, police said.

Rodríguez said Tuesday that there is no established timeline for laboratory tests to confirm whether drugs contained fentanil, although in suspicions of homicide cases, officials move “at full speed ahead.”

Response to Núñez’s social networks

In Publications of Instagram reviewed by the press Democrat, Núñez denied the responsibility for overdose, saying that he had evidence that his “(improper) is clean.”

“Other people who had the same lot can respond,” he wrote in an Instagram story, responding to the accusations provided by drugs tied. He also shared two photos of what he said they were fentanyl test strips that showed negative results.

“I understand your duel and that (improper) is not easy, but the truth is that it was not my doing,” he wrote. “Don’t put this to me when I get evidence that shows otherwise.”

You can communicate with staff writer Colin Atagi at [email protected]. On Twitter @colin_atagi