Woman faces fentanyl murder charge in Tuolumne County. Where do Stanislaus cases stand?
Tuolumne County has its first fentanyl murder case, involving a man who had a fatal overdose in October.
Stacey Renee Christ, 27, is charged with supplying the powerful opioid to Richard Bennett, 39. She pleaded not guilty during her first Superior Court appearance on Dec. 23, the Union Democrat reported.
Christ was already in the county jail following her November arrest on charges of possessing and selling fentanyl and methamphetamine. Judge Laura Krieg ordered her to remain there without bail in advance of a Jan. 2 hearing on the murder charge.
The newspaper said Bennett was a Sonora resident and Christ is a transient in the area. It did not detail how and where he obtained the drug. He was found dead on the morning of Oct. 10 from acute fentanyl poisoning, a coroner’s report said.
His family asked for help with funeral and other expenses in an Oct. 12 appeal on GoFundMe. “Richard Jimmie Bennett II (RJ) has been relieved from his pain here on earth,” the post said. “It was sudden and tragic.”
Fentanyl murder cases remain rare in California following the first guilty verdict in Riverside County in August 2023. Prosecutors must show that the drug supplier knew that the substance might kill the person taking it.
The penalty is 25 years to life in state prison for first-degree murder, which the law defines as “deliberate and premeditated.” Cases lacking those elements can be charged as second-degree murder, with a sentence of 15 years to life. Voluntary or involuntary manslaughter are even lesser charges.
Fentanyl is related to prescription painkillers but can be lethal in amounts as tiny as a few grains of salt, the California Department of Public Health said. It is relatively cheap to make but can bring on intense euphoria. Officials warn that fentanyl is often mixed with both legal and illegal drugs. Details on overdose prevention are at www.cdph.ca.gov.
Details on three cases in Stanislaus
Stanislaus County has had three fentanyl murder cases, two of them ending with guilty pleas to involuntary manslaughter. The third involves a 1-year-old victim in Riverbank and is still pending in Superior Court.
The child was found dead of fentanyl poisoning in December 2022, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department reported. Murder charges were filed against his mother, Maryanne Cazares, 27, and her boyfriend, Tyler Jacob Jones, 33. The victim, identified in court papers as Tyler J, was at a home on Newbrook Circle in central Riverbank.
“Both admitted to falling asleep while the baby played on the floor,” Sgt. Erich Layton said at the time, “and Jones also admitted that, prior to law enforcement arriving, he hid the drugs and paraphernalia that were previously accessible to the boy.”
The defendants were ordered to trial following a preliminary hearing in March of this year. They have had several case management conferences since then and are scheduled for another on Jan. 10, 2025. Such sessions include the judge, prosecutor and defense attorney.
Cazares was released on her own recognizance pending trial. Jones remains in jail on murder, parole violation and other charges, with bail set at $2 million.
The other cases:
- George Foster Keene III, 29, of Ceres was charged with second-degree murder in the August 2023 death of Bethany Borges, then 24. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter on Aug. 29 of this year. Keene was sentenced to three years in state prison, with credit for the 350 days he spent in county jail. Borges was a waitress at the Harvest Moon restaurant in Modesto. Her family told The Modesto Bee earlier that she had accidentally taken fentanyl at a gathering in Ceres.
- Anthony Taft Lee, 39, of Modesto was charged with murder in the May 2021 death of Connor Hoffmann, then 21. Lee pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in January 2023. He was sentenced to five years in prison, with credit for time already served in county jail. Hoffmann had purchased $10 worth of fentanyl from a man he met on Snapchat, his family told The Bee earlier.
Murder charges have resulted from less than 1% of the county’s drug overdose deaths in recent years. In 2023 alone, it reported that 138 people died from fentanyl and another 75 from other drugs.
Tuolumne case has a twist
The Tuolumne case involves a form known as fentanyl-isotonitazene, about 20 times as strong as common fentanyl, the Sheriff’s Office said in an early November news release. It detailed Christ’s arrest on drug charges on Highway 108 near Green Springs Road, west of Jamestown.
This was part of a 10-week investigation leading to Christ’s murder charge, District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke said in a news release. The case involved the Tuolumne Narcotics Team, better known as TNT. It had been inactive for several years due to short staffing but was revived this past summer.
Sheriff David Vasquez told the Union Democrat that a fentanyl murder case is complex and having the team back was helpful.
“This is one more tool to hold drug dealers accountable and provide that psychological deterrent for others who are selling drugs, that there are real consequences coming,” he said. “Consequences that rise all the way to the level of murder.”
Christ’s new charge came a few days after state Proposition 36 took effect, toughening penalties for various offenses. It includes a mandate that judges warn drug dealers that they could face murder charges if the users die.
Bee staff writer Ken Carlson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 31, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
