Man who gave fatal fentanyl dose to 17-year-old girlfriend pleads guilty

A 23-year-old man pleaded guilty today to multiple charges for giving a fatal dose of fentanyl to his 17-year-old girlfriend in an unincorporated area near Desert Hot Springs two years ago.

Michael Garcia entered guilty pleas at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to felony counts of willful child cruelty and giving a minor a controlled substance as an adult, according to case records.

Information on sentencing was not immediately available.   

Garcia was arrested around 7:45 p.m. on Aug. 26 in the El Centro area and returned to Indio, where he was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center on suspicion on unlawfully furnishing a controlled substance to a minor and felony child endangerment, according to inmate records and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.   

He was being held in lieu of $75,000 bail.   

Around 9 a.m. Aug. 21, 2022, deputies from the Palm Desert Sheriff's Station responded to a report of an unresponsive teen girl in her bedroom in the 15000 block of Via Quedo, according to Sgt. Sean Liebrand of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

"Lifesaving measures were unsuccessful, and the juvenile was ultimately pronounced deceased," Liebrand said in a statement. "The investigation determined the female juvenile had overdosed on fentanyl."

The department's Overdose Investigations and Narcotics Unit took over the investigation and identified Garcia as the suspect, according to Liebrand.   

According to a court declaration in support of his arrest, Garcia was present when deputies responded to the home, and he told investigator James Peters that the previous night he "purchased M-30 pills, which he stated he knew contained fentanyl, and provided them to (the girl), who smoked them."

"Michael said he awoke the next morning to find (her) overdosing," Peters wrote in the declaration.

According to Peters, Garcia admitted he knew the girl was 17 but maintained a sexual relationship with her for several months. Despite knowing she had recently been released from rehab for fentanyl addiction, he continued to buy her fentanyl until her fatal overdose, Peters said.

More suspects and arrests were expected in the case, Liebrand said at the time. It was not clear if additional arrests have been made in connection to the case.