LOS ANGELES – A Granada Hills man who knowingly sold fentanyl and methamphetamine to a woman who was found dead hours later from an overdose has been charged with murder, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced Tuesday.
Casey Linder, 38, has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and four counts each of sale of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, prosecutors said.
The case revolves around the alleged sale of the illegal drugs on July 31 of last year to Mo Ida Solomon, who was found dead by police in her downtown Los Angeles apartment a few hours later, according to the district attorney’s office.
The 35-year-old woman died from the effects of methamphetamine, fentanyl and alprazolam, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s website.
Linder was arrested by Los Angeles police last Thursday and has been behind bars since then for failing to post $2.1 million bail, jail records show.
He is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on July 3 for a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to take the case to trial.
In a statement announcing the charges, Gascón said it was a “deeply tragic case that illustrates the heartbreaking consequences of the opioid trade in our communities.”
This is the second case in recent months involving the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in that county involving deaths caused by fentanyl.
In April, a San Bernardino County woman was charged with double murder for allegedly giving fentanyl to two young Covina men who died within less than a week of each other.
Isyss Ibisola Akerele, 21, of Colton, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of 20-year-old Andrew Nunez on March 31 and the deaths of 18-year-old Rickey Renta III on April 4, as well as three counts of drug offenses. According to Assistant District Attorney Phil Stirling, it is also alleged that she was out on bail or bond at the time of the alleged crimes because she had previously been arrested in San Bernardino County.
According to coroner’s records, Nunez died of fentanyl poisoning, while Renta died of fentanyl and bromazolam poisoning.
Akerele remains in jail without bail awaiting arraignment on July 31 in a Pomona courtroom.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is manufactured in laboratories abroad and the synthetic opioid is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border by cartels.
The drug is 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine and taking just two milligrams can be fatal.
Last August, a jury convicted a Temecula man of first-degree murder for killing a 26-year-old woman with fentanyl in June 2020. The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office called it a groundbreaking case in California. He was subsequently sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has also prosecuted a number of cases related to fentanyl deaths, including one against a Torrance resident who was sentenced to 26 years in prison in February after admitting to supplying fentanyl that led to two deaths in Redondo Beach hotel rooms on two consecutive days in 2020.
