October 28, 2025: LA County Sees Sharpest Decline in Overdose Deaths as District Attorney Hochman Intensifies Fentanyl Fight

Since 2024, the District Attorney's Office has filed 426 cases involving the possession, sale, transportation or distribution of controlled substances

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman today credited the combined efforts of law enforcement, public health leaders, educators and community advocates, along with his office's sustained campaign to expose the dangers of fentanyl, for driving a historic 22 percent decline in overdose and poisoning deaths across Los Angeles County.

District Attorney Hochman said the results prove that prevention and education save lives, and he pledged to intensify efforts to make the public aware of fentanyl's deadly reach - particularly with Halloween approaching - while continuing to prosecute those who profit from, peddle or provide the drug.

"This isn't someone else's problem. The problem is all of ours," District Attorney Hochman said. "Seven out of every 10 illicit pills are laced with a lethal dose of fentanyl. Those odds put every person, every student and every family at risk. One pill can kill. Fentanyl doesn't give second chances. It is an indiscriminate assassin killing on average of eight people in our community every single day."

According to public health officials, overdose deaths fell from 3,137 in 2023 to 2,438 in 2024, the most significant single year drop in Los Angeles County history.

Fentanyl-related deaths declined 37 percent, while methamphetamine-related deaths fell 20 percent. For the first time in years, fentanyl deaths dropped below methamphetamine deaths, signaling a potential turning point in the county's battle against synthetic opioids.

While the numbers show major progress, Hochman said the work is far from over.

"Fentanyl does not care who you are, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office does," District Attorney Hochman said. "We will keep pursuing those who push this poison into our communities while expanding education and prevention to save lives."

Since 2024, the District Attorney's Office has filed 426 cases involving the possession, sale, transportation or distribution of controlled substances. These prosecutions are part of a comprehensive effort to stop the illegal flow of fentanyl while supporting education and treatment initiatives aimed at preventing future loss.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin and can be lethal in quantities as small as the tip of a pencil or a grain of rice. It has devastated families from every walk of life, taking the lives of high-achieving students, athletes, parents, children and professionals.

"Fentanyl continues to claim far too many lives, but we are making measurable progress," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna said. "Overdose deaths across Los Angeles County have dropped by more than 20 percent, and within our jurisdiction, we've seen nearly a 30 percent decline since launching the Sheriff's Department Overdose Response Task Force. These results reflect the dedication of our detectives and the strength of our partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies. We remain steadfast in our mission to save lives, disrupt the flow of deadly drugs into our communities, and hold those accountable who profit on the lives of others."

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said that the widespread threat of fentanyl demands a unified response.

"Through collaboration with the District Attorney's Office and our law enforcement partners, we are working every day to disrupt the flow of this lethal drug and protect our communities from its devastating impact," Chief McDonnell said.

The District Attorney's Office continues to work with schools, community organizations and public health agencies to raise awareness and maintain this progress.

Recent Fentanyl-Related Cases

• David Pearce (dob 2/17/82) of Hollywood was convicted by a jury on Feb. 5 of two counts of first-degree murder in the fentanyl overdose deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola in Beverly Hills in November 2021. Pearce was also convicted of rape and other forcible sexual assaults against seven different women between 2007 and 2021. Pearce is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 29 in Dept. 109 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in case XCNBA498423. Pearce faces 148 years to life in state prison. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on both counts of accessory after the fact for the murders of Giles and Cabrales-Arzola in the charges against Brandt Walter Osborn (dob 9/12/79) of Los Angeles. His retrial is set for Oct. 29, Dept. 109.

• Jestice James (dob 03/27/02) of Winnetka pleaded no contest to six felony counts of child abuse related to the fentanyl overdose deaths of her 3-year-old twin sons, Josiah and Jestine, on Oct. 15 in case 24VWCF01433. She was immediately sentenced to 18 years in state prison. On July 11, 2024, James found her twin boys unresponsive in their home in the San Fernando Valley. The children ingested fentanyl from her purse while she was asleep. Her restitution hearing is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2026, in Dept. 112 of the Van Nuys Courthouse.

• Casey Harding Linder (10/17/85) of Granada Hills pleaded no contest on Aug. 11 to one count of involuntary manslaughter for selling fentanyl and methamphetamine to Mo Ida Solomon in 2023 who died from an overdose hours later in her downtown Los Angeles apartment. Linder received a total sentence of 12 years in state prison. Case 24CJCF03707 is among the first in Los Angeles County where prosecutors pursued a murder charge related to fentanyl distribution, underscoring the District Attorney's commitment to holding drug dealers accountable for overdose deaths.

• Erick Lamont Johnson (dob 8/23/95) of Los Angeles was charged with one felony count each of possession for sale of a controlled substance and the sale/transportation/offer to sell controlled substance on Sept. 12 in case 25CJCF05928. During a traffic stop on Aug. 21 on the 91 Freeway onramp just east of Lakewood Blvd., K-9 alerts on the trunk and box thrown out of the window led to officers finding seven individually wrapped and vacuum-sealed bricks of suspected narcotics later tested to be fentanyl weighing approximately 16.9 pounds (7.6 kilos). Johnson's preliminary hearing setting is scheduled for Oct. 30 in Dept. 38 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

• Jeny Catalina Morenoparra (dob 10/24/83) of Wilmington was charged on May 28 with one felony count each of bringing an illegal substance into a jail facility, employment of a minor to sell or carry a narcotic, fentanyl and possession for sale of a controlled substance, fentanyl. Morenoparra was originally contacted by a supervising deputy probation officer in 2023 and found to be in possession of more than 30 pills that later tested positive for fentanyl. She is accused bringing narcotics into the Barry J. Nidorf Youth Facility in case 25SFCF01075. On July 11, 2025, she was taken into custody by the Los Angeles County Probation Department's Special Enforcement Operations Team. If convicted as charged, she faces 10 years, eight months in prison. Morenoparra's preliminary hearing setting is scheduled for Oct. 30 in Dept. H of the San Fernando Courthouse.

• Jessica Darthard (9/6/85) and Jessie Darthard (11/6/51), both of Lancaster, were charged on Sept. 26, 2024, with murder in case 24AVCF01454. Secret Rodcliff Daniel (4/22/94) of Lancaster, a Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services visitation monitor, was also charged with willful cruelty to a child causing possible injury or death. On Feb. 18, 2024, authorities responded to a call in connection with an unresponsive toddler. The boy was rushed to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Jesse Darthard, the grandfather of 17-month-old Justin Bulley, is accused of smoking fentanyl out of a glass pipe while next to the boy, then falling asleep. Justin's mother Jessica Darthard was in the home when Justin died and appeared inebriated, prosecutors said. On the day Justin died, he was visiting his mother, with Daniel as the department-approved monitor. Pretrial conference for all three defendants is set for Dec. 17 in Department A18 of the Antelope Valley Courthouse. If convicted as charged, Jessica Darthard faces 38 years to life in prison, Jessie Darthard faces 15 years to life in prison and Secret Daniel faces 16 years in prison.

Awareness is the first step in saving a life. Here are some useful links:

Together for Families | DEA.gov

National Institute on Drug Abuse: Fentanyl | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)