Man guilty of fentanyl murder left teen dying, then sold more pills, Placer prosecutors say

A 22-year-old man convicted of murder in the fentanyl death of a 15-year-old girl left her dying in a bed last year in a Roseville home after he supplied her with a deadly dose of the synthetic opioid.

Nathaniel Evan Cabacungan continues to await prison after pleading guilty last month to second-degree murder and solicitation of a minor to use or sell a narcotic as part of a plea agreement with the Placer County District Attorney’s Office. Cabacungan is believed to be the first person in California to be convicted of a murder charge in a fentanyl death.

Prosecutors dropped a special allegation enhancement with the felony solicitation charge — the victim was at least four years younger than the defendant at the time — as part of the deal with Cabacungan. He was 20 years old at the time of the Roseville girl’s death.

Cabacungan will be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison as part of the plea deal, according to filed court documents. He was scheduled to be formally sentenced last Thursday in Placer Superior Court, but the hearing has been postponed until Oct. 10. A court filing indicates that the defense attorney asked to postpone the hearing to have more time to prepare for sentencing and “engage with expert witnesses” to evaluate his client.

Cabacungan remains in custody at the Placer County Jail, where he has been held since his Aug. 10, 2022, arrest. He refused to exit his jail cell and go to court for a hearing last Wednesday, which had been previously scheduled for his sentencing.

Court documents show that the judge ordered jail staff to extract Cabacungan from his jail cell if he refuses to come out for his Oct. 10 sentencing hearing.

Initially, the District Attorney’s Office also filed charges of transporting drugs, possessing drugs for the purpose of sale and meeting with a minor for the purpose of engaging in lewd and lascivious behavior in connection with the teen’s death. Those felony charges against Cabacungan were dropped.

Brad Whatcott, Cabacungan’s court-appointed attorney, said Friday that his client did not wish to make a statement or comment for this story. Whatcott also did not comment on behalf of his client.

His preliminary hearing to determine whether there’s enough evidence for him to stand trial was scheduled to begin July 7. But Cabacungan instead agreed to plead guilty as part of the deal with prosecutors.

‘My life or hers’: How the teen girl died

Deputy District Attorney Daniel Wesp stated the prosecution’s factual basis for the charges against Cabacungan during the July 7 hearing.

The teen girl died of fentanyl intoxication on June 19, 2022 in a Roseville home. Wesp, according to court transcripts, said the fentanyl that killed her was given to her by Cabacungan in the form of a fake M30 oxycodone pill.

Fentanyl, primarily made in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States, is increasingly being pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription opioid tablets. They often contain lethal doses, the prosecutor said.

The state Department of Justice has said 2 milligrams of fentanyl can result in overdose and potentially death.

“The defendant is a prolific fentanyl dealer selling fake M30 pills,” Wesp said in court about Cabacungan. “The defendant used social media, specifically Snapchat and Instagram, to advertise his deadly fentanyl for sale.”

Law enforcement officials investigating the girl’s death were closely monitoring Cabacungan in early August 2022. During that time, Cabacungan’s communications almost exclusively involved the sale of fentanyl, the prosecutor said.

Investigators also found an exchange of Instagram messages four days after the girl’s death between Cabacungan and a 17-year-old female friend.

Wesp said Cabacungan told his friend “Can I tell you a secret? I’m gonna delete it after because it’s crazy. You’re literally the only one I told. It’s on the news. Murder investigation. They’re looking for me. I’m pretty sure I’m straight. I left no evidence.”

The prosecutor said Cabacungan told the girl he was “straight,” meaning good or OK.

Cabacungan’s friend asked him about “hickeys” he had on his neck, and asked when he got them.

“Same night. She died the same night. Cuddling in my arms, she died,” the prosecutor said, reading Cabacungan’s response to his friend’s questions. “I panicked because the cops... cops hate me in Sac, and I had so much drugs and money. It was either my life or hers.”

Selling fake Percocet pills containing fentanyl

Wesp said Cabacungan knew the M30 pills he was selling were not real Percocet and contained fentanyl. He said Cabacungan knew fentanyl intoxication could cause death but was selling the pills anyway.

Before the girl’s death, Cabacungan had said to others that he was with a childhood friend when that friend died of fentanyl intoxication, and he has five friends who have died from overdoses, prosecutors said.

The prosecutor went on to say that Cabacungan should have foreseen the kind of harm that would result from his act, and he “left her dead on the bed because the cops hate him, because he had a lot of dope and money, and because it was either her life or his.”

The teen girl’s last electronic communication was a Snapchat video of her and Cabacungan shortly after 8 p.m., the night of her death. Wesp said authorities believe she died at some point between 8:04 and 8:58 p.m., when Cabacungan sent a message, asking a friend for a ride.

At 9:02 p.m., Cabacungan sent a message to that friend. Wesp said Cabacungan told his friend that he was hiding behind a Raley’s grocery store adjacent to the girl’s home.

Shortly after 9:30 p.m. that night, Cabacungan sent a message to another friend. Wesp said Cabacungan told his friend “Hot s--- happend. Can I post up at your house?” The prosecutor said Cabacungan offered his friend “Blues” — slang for fake M30 pills — in exchange for the favor.

In the 40 minutes after he asked for a ride, Cabacungan received a message from a customer seeking to buy M30 pills. Wesp said Cabacungan in those 40 minutes met with this customer and sold the same fake M30 pills that he had given the girl who “died in his arms.”

“This was the defendant’s selfish way of life,” Wesp said about Cabacungan. “The defendant frequently bragged on social media about his, quote, ‘Trapping’ activities. Trapping literally means selling drugs to make money.”

The prosecutor said Cabacungan would post online photos of large amounts of M30 pills and cash, the prosecutor said.

New approach to murder charge

Whatcott, a member of the Placer County Public Defender’s Office, stipulated to the prosecution’s factual basis during the July 7 court hearing. The defense attorney told the judge that he’s met with his client many times to review the prosecution’s evidence, theory of the case and legal basis for filing a second-degree murder charge.

“I believe that’s a relatively new and unique theory for charging a second-degree murder,” Whatcott told the judge. “Mr. Cabacungan is aware of this.”

District Attorney Morgan Gire and other prosecutors in California are filing murder charges against people who sell or provide fentanyl to someone who later dies from taking them. Gire has told The Sacramento Bee that his office uses this approach “sparingly — as it should be used — and in the most egregious of circumstances.” His office has used this prosecuting tactic in two other cases filed last year.

In last month’s hearing, Whatcott said the defense was prepared to proceed that week with Cabacungan’s preliminary hearing. But his client had already authorized him to engage in negotiations with the District Attorney’s Office for a resolution in the case. Whatcott said his client then decided to accept the prosecution’s offer.