An alleged drug dealer in San Jose has been charged with murder after prosecutors say he sold fentanyl to a man who was found dead from an overdose days later.
Manuel Rodriguez, 29, was set for arraignment Thursday in connection with the death of 61-year-old Jeffrey Diaz, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
Diaz was found dead in his apartment on April 26 of this year by county sheriff's deputies, and investigators located text messages in his phone from about 10 days earlier that appeared to show a fentanyl deal, and data showed that he stopped using his cellphone that day, prosecutors said.
Court documents indicate the sheriff’s special enforcement division found text messages and security footage showing a fentanyl deal.
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“We treat every overdose death as a homicide investigation and until evidence proves otherwise,” said Santa Clara Sheriff’s Captain Brendan Omori.
“The suspect is charged with murder, selling fentanyl, possessing fentanyl for sale, selling methamphetamine and possessing methamphetamine for sale. And because of those charges, he's looking at a sentence of life in prison. I should add that this is the third case that we've charged in our county of murder for someone selling fentanyl to another person,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosen.
Investigators said they also observed Rodriguez dealing fentanyl to other potential victims and telling them to be careful because the drug was potentially deadly.
Both the Santa Clara County DA and sheriff’s office say in order to make an arrest it is important to have evidence that shows the drug dealer had knowledge of the potency or death risk of the drug they are selling.
“Lou Rodriguez knew how dangerous and lethal fentanyl was and sold it anyway, showing reckless disregard for human life, which is why we've charged him with murder,” said Rosen.
According to Santa Clara County's medical examiner, fentanyl deaths tripled there from 2019 to 2020, and then spiked again in 2021. As of October 2022, there have been 103 fentanyl deaths in Santa Clara county.
“I think a way to think about people that die from fat fentanyl is not that they're drug addicts or that they overdosed, but really that they were poisoned,” said Rosen. “And when we think about poisoning, we understand that is something that requires a murder charge.”
NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit previously examined the challenges some law enforcement agencies have had holding drug dealers accountable for overdose deaths. You can check that out here.
