Families Want Fentanyl Dealers Held Responsible for Deaths

The U.S. government estimates more than 107,000 people died nationally of drug overdoses last year, including around 75,000 from synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl.

Many might think the people dying on the streets are addicts, but that is only part of the story. It is estimated that about 22 high school age adolescents 14-18 died each week from overdoses in 2022, driven by fentanyl-laced prescription pills.

“Fentanyl has rapidly become a leading cause of death in American teens,” said Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of adolescent medicine at Mass General for Children. “Policymakers, clinicians, families and communities need to partner together to address this worsening public health threat.”

At the Californians for Safer Communities rally on June 28 at Los Angeles City Hall, speakers included Pamela Smith, founder of Mothers in Grief Support Group, and Matt Capeulouto, who has pushed for justice for his daughter Alexandra. She died after taking half of an oxycodone pill that she didn’t know contained fentanyl.

The passageway towards City Hall was lined with photos of the faces of teens that have died from fentanyl poisoning. Above the photo were the words, “Forever  . . . ,” meaning the teens died at that age and for their families they will always be forever that age.

People at the rally are supporting Prop. 36, which would advise drug dealers that they could be “charged with homicide, up to and including the crime of murder” if they sell or administer drugs in the future that kill someone, and if they know or should’ve known the substance contained fentanyl.

Smith said, “the fentanyl crisis demands an urgent solution for grieving families. This measure [Prop. 36] would hold those dealing in fentanyl accountable.”

She spoke about her son Jackson, who was 22. “He took one pill (a counterfeit Oxycodone laced with Fentanyl), and it took his life on July 3, 2016, at age 22.”

Jackson will be forever 22.

Smith explained this proposition would go after the drug dealers for selling fentanyl. She said the government says it is fixing the epidemic, but it is not.

“More young people are dying from fentanyl than car accidents,” said Smith, crying. “I can’t stand to watch the pain on other families faces that my family has suffered.”  (Click here.)

A website, Victims of Drug Induced Homicide, is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of forgotten victims of drug-induced homicide and their families click here.

Twenty-five out of 50 states have a drug homicide statute, California does not. The site states that “illicit drugs are now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45, with man-made fentanyl involved in the majority of these fatalities. These deaths now surpass those caused by car accidents, firearms, suicide and illness.”

“Most illicit fentanyl is manufactured in China and Mexico before being illegally smuggled into the United States. Fentanyl is highly addictive, extremely lethal, and very cheap to produce. Drug dealers are pressing counterfeit pills to mimic legitimate pharmaceutical medications such as Xanax, Percocet and Oxycodone.”

On that site, Alexandra Capeulouto is described as smart, funny, charming, beautiful, and deeply empathetic. However, she also battled depression, diagnosed as a teenager with massive depressive disorder. Despite her struggles, Alex navigated her teenage years and earned a full academic scholarship to college.

Her father wrote: “Alex’s life was cut short by a drug dealer, or more appropriately, a death dealer. While no parent condones their child buying painkiller drugs illegally, the greater crime lies with the individual who profited from my daughter’s life by selling her a counterfeit Oxycodone pill made with a lethal dose of fentanyl.”

Two years to the week after Alex’s death Brandon Michael McDowell was arrested on the federal charge of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. Alex’s case was the first federal case of its kind in Riverside County California.

Alex will forever be 20 years old. Her family will forever be heartbroken.

“My daughter didn’t want to die,” Capeulouto said during a January 2022 news briefing. “She took one pill, and it was not a wise choice. Everybody in the supply chain needs to be held accountable. The drug dealers, the cartels in Mexico, right back to China. This war is not fought with bullets. They’re poisoning us from within.”

Victim after victim is on the Stop Drug Homicide site. Here are two more stories.

Gage James

Age: 26 | State: California | County: Stanislaus | Case Status: No Investigation

On August 6, 2023, my son, Gage, lost his life to fentanyl induced homicide.
He had been in the bathroom for a while. We heard something loud, some loud big thump/thud sounds from the bathroom, this was his body falling off the toilet and hitting the ground.

We banged on the door but couldn’t get a response. I (his mom) had to break the bathroom window; I see him face down on the floor. I yell to his brothers that he’s down. As I run back inside the house, they are breaking the bathroom door down.

We pull him into the hallway to lay flat. My husband is already on the phone with 911. I noticed him cold to the touch, he’s rigid, he’s cold, his mouth and tongue are blue. We are all yelling and screaming. We immediately start giving Gage CPR and the Narcan that we have on hand. We continue with CPR until medics finally arrive. I am begging God to take me instead, even begging the devil. None of this seems real, as if I am watching a movie or in a dream. The medics work on him for maybe 10 minutes before they stop and put the sheet over him. I held his hand until the sheriffs made me go outside to wait for the coroner to come.

Gage lost his life 2 days before his 27th birthday. Instead of planning what to do for his birthday dinner, I was having to make plans for his funeral. Sadly, there has been no investigation into his death, case closed.

“Gage James. . .Forever 26.”

Arnold Ceballos

Age: 17 | State: California | County: Los Angeles | Case Status: No Investigation

Arnold was loved by family and   blessed with many friends. Arnold was charismatic, humble, friendly, bubbly. He would bring happiness into any room he entered. He had a beautiful smile.

Arnold was diagnosed with ADHD/ADD since he was 7 years old, he was under medication for couple years to help him focus at school until he got to high school he decide not to take his pills as he said they were drugs that made him feel bad, I let Arnold choose not to take the pills as I did not want to force him to take what he said were drugs (his medication). Arnold struggled a lot in school due to his inability to focus.

Arnold liked Rodeo bull riding and his dream was to ride a bull one day. Arnold dreamed of buying a ranch to have many farm animals. I remember one day he came home with a rooster; he said it was his pet. I had to give his pet up for adoption because our neighbors were not very happy with a roster singing every day at sunrise.

Arnold started working at a local CVS pharmacy when he was 16, he was very excited about his new job and hopefully became a pharmacist.

Arnold also started his own car window tinting business. He was an entrepreneur.

Because his birthday was close to Halloween, I used to organize every year Halloween theme party with customs and decorations, but for his 16th and 17th birthday due to Covid, it was too risky to organize a party.

On October 31, 2020, Arnold asked for permission to go to a Halloween party, I felt guilty for not celebrating his birthday and gave him permission to go to the party. He was very excited to go and dress in his costume. I was not aware that he went to this party with fake friends and the party was not a family party, it was an illegal party at an abandoned house.

Arnold never came back home; I made several calls to my son and no answer. At 3:30 a.m. I received a call from my sister telling me to go to her house as my son was not looking good, I felt something was not right. When I arrived at my sister’s house, I saw my son laying on the sidewalk of the street, paramedics doing CPR on him, I was not able to touch him or get close to him, I saw when they were putting a white sheet over my son, my son was pronounced death.

I was shocked, I did not know what happened, it was a nightmare, my son was a strong healthy boy. Speculations from the detective were that he was drinking, using cocaine and nose at the party. I could not believe it was an overdose or a mix combination as the detective said was the possible cause of his death.

My son did not use drugs before that night, I could not believe he was dead due to an overdose. No further investigation was done to find out what really happened at the party.

A few months later I received the autopsy report, “it was Fentanyl” found in his system, it was the first time I heard about fentanyl, I did not know what fentanyl was, I did have conversations with my son about common drugs like cocaine, marijuana, edibles, meth, but never about fentanyl, I wish I was aware of fentanyl before.  I wish I could have talked to my son about the dangers of fentanyl, but I learned about fentanyl in a hard way, losing my son.

My son had pure fentanyl in his system, enough fentanyl to kill 11 people.

No cocaine or nose was found on his system, like the detective said. Pure Fentanyl killed my son!!! Not an overdose, he was poisoned!!!.

No open investigation for my son, his death was ruled “accidental.”  I still don’t know how he ingested Fentanyl, or if he knew it was Fentanyl. He was murdered by a drug dealer who gave this poison to my son, and he is free on the streets supplying more poison to others.

My son is supposed to learn from his mistakes, not die from it.

Fentanyl changed everything, my son did not get a second chance.

I lost my son Arnold four days after he turned 17, he earned his [angel] wings on November 1, 2020, and became forever 17, Arnold did not got the opportunity to graduate from high school, he will not get the opportunity to marry, he will not get the opportunity to have kids.

“Arnold Ceballos . . .Forever 17.”

Since there’s no California state law resulting in murder charges for fentanyl deaths, some prosecutors have cited the Watson Murder rule, which is used in cases of drunk driving where someone causes a deadly crash after having prior DUI convictions. But Alexandra’s Law would make it a court record that a defendant knows the lethal nature of fentanyl if they were previously convicted.

At the press conference on June 28, Capeulouto said, “My daughter made a poor decision and it cost Alexandra her life on December 22, 2019. Countless number of lives could have been saved if the state had passed this legislation.”

“Other states hold fentanyl dealers accountable,” said Capeulouto, who has pushed for passage of the bill in the California Senate for more than four years. It will now be on the November ballot under Prop. 36, called the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act.