Four teenagers in Santa Rosa overdosed on suspected fentanyl over the weekend, and two died, police said Sunday night.
A suspected drug dealer has been arrested, and investigators are trying to determine if all the overdoses were related.
A 16-year-old Santa Rosa High School girl and an 18-year-old male Montgomery High School student were found unresponsive in a bed at a home in the 2100 block of Brookwood Drive on Saturday, according to police. The female caller to 911 had entered the home after no one answered the door.
“I need her, I need her badly,” said Veronica Campers.
She said it was her 16-year-old daughter Gia and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Logan, who died.
Campers said Gia was having a sleepover Saturday night when one of her friends found the teens unresponsive.
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Officers and first responders arrived at about 8:15 p.m., and the pair were declared dead soon after, Santa Rosa police said.
“She loved dancing. She did ballet for seven years. She was so tall and light,” said Campers.
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She said her daughter was looking forward to getting her license and going to the prom with Logan. She says Gia was compassionate and full of joy, and imagining life without her hurts beyond words.
“She was fair and just and she was loved. She was a darling, and I will never have more love for anyone in the whole world ever ever,” Campers said.
Earlier that day at 5:15 a.m., two more girls aged 14 and 16 were hospitalized due to a suspected fentanyl overdose in Santa Rosa, police said.
“We are currently investigating any connection he may have to the overdose of the 14 and 16-year-old earlier the same day. It is very similar,” said Sergeant Patricia Seffens of the Santa Rosa Police Department.
Detectives identified a suspect in the deaths of the teens on Brookwood Drive as Ramon Nunez, 21. Investigators believe the four overdose victims bought what they thought was cocaine but "was most likely fentanyl," police said in a release Sunday night. Police were still trying to determine if the teens ingested fentanyl or cocaine laced with fentanyl.
Nunez was located around 12:45 p.m. Sunday in his vehicle parked in the parking lot of a retail business in the 1900 block of Santa Rosa Avenue, police said.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for both Nunez and his vehicle and found narcotics and other items indicative of narcotics sales such as small plastic baggies containing a "distinctive black peace sign logo believed to be linked to the overdose deaths of the two teenagers," police said.
Investigators believe Nunez sold the narcotics that caused the death of the teenagers and are investigating Nunez's possible connection to other overdoses in Santa Rosa, the department said.
Nunez was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of two counts of second-degree homicide and furnishing narcotics to a minor. He is being held without bail.
The 14-year-old and 16-year-old female overdose victims remain hospitalized. "Their names or schools of attendance will not be released at this time due to the ongoing investigation and to protect their privacy," police said.
Police noted that on Sunday evening, Santa Rosa City Schools released a message referencing the death of four students. Two of the students are the 16 and 18-year-old victims referenced in this release, Santa Rosa police said. The third is a 19-year-old male and former student, and though drugs are suspected in his death, "it is unlikely to be related to this overdose death," police said. The fourth student is a 21-year-old man who is believed to have died from natural causes.
“Stay off the white stuff, the drugs, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, as fun as it sounds, kids I know,” said parent Laura Chase Brown. “But it’s not worth it. Not worth it.”
All four deaths are currently being investigated.
