Man accused of fatal fentanyl attack faces murder charges

A man accused of administering a fatal dose of fentanyl to a 40-year-old Norco resident will face first-degree murder charges, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Johnnie Curtis Stevens, 40, of Norco, was arrested in April following a months-long investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff's Office into the death of Jason Schmuch.

At the end of a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Randall Stamen ruled there was sufficient evidence to try Stevens for murder and scheduled an arraignment following the preliminary hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice on August 30.

The defendant is being held on $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.

According to Sheriff Sergeant Sean Liebrand, officers were called to the intersection of Roundup Road and Stagecoach Drive on the morning of November 19, 2023, to investigate reports of a comatose man.

Schmuch was pronounced dead at the scene, Liebrand said.

“Deputies found evidence suggesting a fentanyl overdose,” he said.

The sheriff's death overdose and drug unit was assigned to the case after it was confirmed that “Schmuch died of fentanyl poisoning,” the sergeant said.

Less than a day after the victim's death, an initial search warrant was issued for Stevens' property in the 5000 block of Trail Street. Liebrand said officers seized “fentanyl, methamphetamine and (drug) paraphernalia.”

Investigators also found that the defendant's daughter, whose identity was not disclosed, “had access to the narcotics,” Liebrand claimed. Stevens was initially jailed only for child endangerment and was soon released on bail.

The ODIN Unit's investigation continued and eventually resulted in sufficient evidence to charge the defendant with murder. The prosecution filed the charges in mid-April.

Stevens has no prior felony convictions in Riverside County. His connection to the victim has not been disclosed.

Since February 2021, more than two dozen people across the county have been charged with murder in connection with fentanyl poisoning.

In November, prosecutors completed the county's first fentanyl murder case to go before a jury. The case culminated 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. District Attorney Mike Hestrin said it was the first fentanyl murder conviction in the state.

According to health statistics, there were 550 known fentanyl-related deaths countywide in 2023, a 9% increase from 2022, when there were 503.

Man accused of fatal fentanyl attack faces murder charges

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