A woman who allegedly sold a batch of fentanyl-spiked cocaine to a Redlands couple has been charged in their deaths nearly five years ago.
A grand jury indicted Breanna Daeyshanee Kuyre Garcia, 28, of San Bernardino on Oct. 30 on two felony counts of willfully distributing fentanyl resulting in the deaths of Jessica Filson, 29, and her boyfriend, Nicholas Castillo, 30, at their Michigan Street home on Jan. 22, 2020.
Jessica Filson with daughter Elara, then 2 years old, in 2019. (Courtesy photo)
Garcia was arrested on a warrant in Texas on Nov. 1 and brought to Los Angeles to face charges. She pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Nov. 21, then was released from custody, with conditions. Her trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 14 but will likely be continued, said Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A second defendant in the case, Jason Saha, 39, of San Bernardino, pleaded guilty on Aug. 12 to two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. His sentencing is scheduled for March 10, 2025, and he faces up to 40 years in federal prison.
Saha was initially indicted in November 2022 on four counts of knowingly and intentionally distributing fentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury.
Saha allegedly sold fentanyl-spiked cocaine to three other men on the evening of Jan. 21 and the morning of Jan. 22 in 2020. One of those men, who has not been identified, overdosed but survived, while the other two, San Bernardino residents Donald Kelly, 33, and Cannon Farris, 42, died of acute fentanyl toxicity.
The four deaths and the nonfatal poisoning linked to Saha and Garcia occurred at the onset of the national fentanyl epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of people across the U.S. in recent years.
The fentanyl crisis prompted the formation of activist groups, mainly by the parents and families of those who died from fentanyl poisoning. They include Filson’s father, Steve Filson, a retired San Bernardino police sergeant who co-founded Victims Of Illicit Drugs, or VOID, in June 2021 to help educate parents and others about the dangers of fentanyl — and pressure lawmakers as well as federal and local prosecutors to do more.
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“Our family is relieved at the indictment of Garcia surrounding her involvement in Jessica’s death,” Steve Filson said in a statement on Tuesday, Nov. 26. “We look forward to the proceedings involving both Jason Saha and Breanna Garcia moving forward in obtaining convictions along with serious consequences for all families impacted by their irresponsibility and criminal distribution of this poison.”
According to Saha’s plea agreement, filed in federal court on May 20, Saha went to the Third Street Tavern in Highland the evening of Jan. 21, 2020, to sell cocaine. There, he met Garcia, who also happened to be selling cocaine at the bar.
Saha, according to the his plea agreement, bought cocaine off Garcia at the bar. The two then left the tavern and went to Garcia’s home in San Bernardino, where Saha purchased more of the fentanyl-spiked cocaine. From there, the two drove to Redlands, where they sold some of the drugs to Filson and Castillo.
Saha and Garcia then parted ways. Saha subsequently sold some of the fentanyl-spiked cocaine to the other man who overdosed but survived. He then met up with Farris and Kelly at an apartment on East Pumalo Street in San Bernardino, where the three hung out and took the drug together.
Farris and Kelly died of acute fentanyl toxicity, according to the plea agreement. Saha, however, survived, awakening the morning of Jan. 23 after being passed out for roughly 24 hours, to find his friends dead, police said.