Jacob Austin Parr, 45, is charged with second-degree murder for the 2022 death of Isaak Quintin Ruiz.

Jurors went behind closed doors after the prosecution and defense delivered closing statements on Dec. 19, and they deliberated part of the day on Dec. 20, when Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Hollenhorst gave them a rest period through Christmas and New Year’s. He directed the panel to return to the Riverside Hall of Justice on Jan. 2.

Parr is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center.

According to a defense brief filed in April, Parr and Ruiz had been friends for several years, but Parr had only sold narcotics to the victim periodically in the four months prior to his death.

Testimony by sheriff’s investigators during the defendant’s 2023 preliminary hearing indicated Ruiz had attempted to kick his drug habit, trying to detox in a rehabilitation program, but he continued to “struggle with opiates.”

“The decedent’s girlfriend … told police that he struggled with addiction and went from using heroin to fentanyl,” the brief stated. “She said that it was difficult for him to resist smoking whatever substance he had in his possession.”

Court papers said Parr was endeavoring to put his life on track and quit using or selling drugs, but when Ruiz couldn’t find a seller, he turned to the defendant.

“(Ruiz) rejected offers for less lethal opiates and said he would save his money for ‘fetty,”‘ the brief said.

In a text exchange between the victim and defendant in February 2022, Parr warned, “You gotta be careful, bro’. This (expletive) will kill you if you haven’t used in a while,” according to the narrative.

At one point, before allegedly selling fentanyl to Ruiz, the defendant offered him Narcan, an opioid antagonist that can arrest the effects of fentanyl and save victims who have taken a potentially lethal amount, the brief said. Ruiz didn’t accept.

On the night of April 22, 2022, Parr met Ruiz at a Norco restaurant, allegedly selling him an undetermined amount of fentanyl, then the two left in Parr’s car and drove to a nearby 76 Station on Sixth Street, where Ruiz stepped into the men’s room and locked the door, according to investigators.

Parr drove away.

The victim consumed the fentanyl he’d purchased and passed out on the floor. He was in there for two hours before the clerk finally unlocked the door to check on him, discovering him dead, according to investigators.

Detectives ultimately identified Parr as the person who allegedly sold the fentanyl to the victim, culminating in his arrest on July 12, 2022. The defendant has a prior conviction for misdemeanor DUI.

Since February 2021, the District Attorney’s Office has charged over 30 people countywide in connection with fentanyl poisonings.

In November 2023, prosecutors closed the books on the county’s first fentanyl murder case to go before a jury, culminating in the conviction of 34- year-old Vicente David Romero, who was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the 2020 death of a Temecula woman.

Public health statistics show there were 550 known fentanyl-related fatalities countywide in 2023, a 9% increase from 2022, when there were 503. Data from 2024 hasn’t been published.

Fentanyl is manufactured in overseas labs, principally in China, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which says the drug is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border by cartels. It’s 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine and can be mixed into any number of street narcotics and prescription drugs, without a user knowing what he or she is consuming. Ingestion of only two milligrams can be fatal.

Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 and 45 years old.

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Understandably, COVID continues to be a high priority for healthcare workers, public officials and the media. However, it has also drawn attention away from the opioid epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that more than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses from April 2020 to April 2021, up almost 30% from the 78,000 deaths in the prior year.

Of those deaths, more than two-thirds involved opioids. This astounding number exceeds the overdose death toll in any year since the opioid epidemic began in the 1990s and is the largest annual percentage increase since 1999, according to The Commonwealth Fund.

It’s clear that healthcare providers, behavioral health professionals, and federal and state governments collectively must renew their focus on opioids. Not only does opioid addiction devastate communities and families, but it also exacts a huge toll on our economy.

First, treatment services for substance use disorders such as opioid addiction need to be made more accessible and affordable to those who need it. Accessibility starts with helping to fund financially imperiled and resource-strapped treatment organizations to keep their doors open and services available. To that end, the Biden Administration in August announced $10.7 million in federal grants to enable state and regional networks of pediatric mental healthcare providers to integrate telehealth services into behavioral healthcare programs and substance abuse treatment. While that’s a start, more government investment in opioid treatment is critical.

Second, we need to upgrade and expand crisis services to make these easily accessible to all in need. In July, the 988 initiative launches, establishing a new nationwide 3-digit number for people in crisis to connect with a mental health professionals and suicide prevention counselors. Beyond infrastructure needed to support this, such as mobile crisis teams, states must also invest in digital infrastructure necessary to ensure people can access care once they’ve contacted a crisis line.

Third, we must integrate new treatment models such as telemedicine into care plans. This may require relaxing regulations governing the delivery of remote care. We know from our experience during the pandemic that telemedicine is effective, so it makes sense to permanently waive remote care restrictions so more people can get help to overcome mental health challenges and addiction.

Finally, we must continue to use the powerful technologies already at our disposal to monitor the dispensing of prescribed opioids. State prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) allow physicians and pharmacists to see a patient’s recent prescription history and make more informed decisions to keep patients safe. Providers are more aware of prescriptions and changes in prescription history to help reduce negative drug interactions, prevent opioid misuse, and reduce the risk of opioid-related harm.

Bamboo Health’s NarxCare is a clinical decision support tool and care management technology application currently used in more than 30 states and jurisdictions. The platform helps prescribers and dispensers analyze controlled substance data from PDMPs to make more informed prescription-care decisions. NarxCare automatically analyzes PDMP data and then it provides an interactive visualization of prescription drug usage patterns along with use scores and an overdose risk score.

NarxCare is designed to provide physicians and pharmacists with a tool to ensure highly addictive pain medication is prescribed accurately to those who need it, while also helping to identify patients who may need intervening steps.

The opioid epidemic isn’t going away by itself. We must all focus on reducing the death and destruction caused by insidious and persistent addiction. It will take caring, commitment, cooperation, and the right tools and resources. It will be a tough fight, but it’s one we can win.

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