Palm Desert woman accused of murder in deadly fentanyl poisoning pleads not guilty
A Palm Desert woman says she is not guilty of the murder charge against her. At an arraignment Tuesday morning in an Indio courtroom in the Larson Justice Center, Tiffany Wright, 39, answered for the first time to accusations that she is responsible for the death of Cameron Bridges, 32.
Bridges was found dead in his home on March 20th. Those close to him told News Channel 3 he took a pill for pain relief after a dental procedure. Prosecutors say that pill was laced with fentanyl and ultimately killed him. Wright was arrested earlier this month. Jail records indicate her bail is set at $1 million.
Kevin Camarillo, Bridges's partner, remembers finding him unresponsive in his bed. "You know I just kept trying to wake him up and tell him to get up,” Camarillo said.
District Attorney Mike Hestrin told News Channel 3 that fentanyl poisoning is a growing problem in Riverside County.
“What we're alleging is that they sold or furnished fentanyl that they knew it was fentanyl that they understood the dangers and the dangers to human life of this activity. And they chose to do it anyway,” said Hestrin.
Bridges’ family said he was not an addict. Hestrin said Bridges did not die of an overdose, and that unintentional fentanyl deaths are growing more common.
“What's really, so different about fentanyl, it's the process of overdose, it's not really overdosing anymore," Hestrin added, "It's not a long process that involves addiction and using the drug routinely. It's happening a lot on the first time or the first second time that someone is taking one of these pills and death is occurring.”
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates on this case.
Fentanyl is known to be 80-100 times more potent than morphine and is a popular additive, seamlessly mixed into any number of narcotics and pharmaceuticals.
"As a reminder, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department wants to remind citizens of the dangers of illicit narcotics many which may contain Fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times stronger than morphine and can cause death or serious bodily harm."
Fentanyl is manufactured in China and smuggled across the Mexican border, according to Sheriff Chad Bianco.
Late last year, Riverside County District Attorney Hestrin told News Channel 3 that fentanyl deaths are up by more than 800% in the last five years in the county.
According to Riverside County, there were at least 386 unintentional fentanyl deaths throughout 2021 in the county. That’s up by more than 100 deaths from the year before.
Hestrin also noted that the DEA estimates that 40% of counterfeit pills on the street contain a fatal dose of fentanyl.
As of January 31, there have been 17 fentanyl overdose deaths in 2022.
Watch: RivCo leaders discuss the impact of fentanyl, push for legislation to charge dealers with murder
Recently, a man who sold his daughter the fentanyl-laced pill was arrested and faces federal charges.
In November, the parents of a 15-month-old who died of a fentanyl overdose were arrested on suspicion of murder.
