Opioids killed 13 Tri-Citians last year, including a baby

A Pasco baby was one of 13 opioid-related deaths in Benton and Franklin counties last year.

Year-end coroner statistics show that while fewer people died of overdoses than in 2018, opioids, such as fentanyl, were to blame for more of those deaths.

And, in Benton County, the biggest drug-related killer last year was still methamphetamine.

Overall, the Benton and Franklin county coroners said there were fewer homicides and fewer people died in accidents than the previous year.

Overdose deaths

Pasco police are investigating the death of a baby who died in March after fentanyl turned up in the infant’s autopsy results, said Franklin County Coroner Curtis McGary.

He declined to release more details about the death because of the ongoing investigation but it was one of five overdose deaths in Franklin County in 2019. The other four were ruled accidental overdoses.

In Benton County, fentanyl led to eight of the 23 drug-related deaths last year and continued to be the leading cause of opioid-related fatalities in the county.

While fentanyl played a larger role, methamphetamine accounted for 10 of those deaths.

Still, overall, there were four fewer drug overdoses in Benton County.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid pain reliever, started making headlines as it increased the number of overdoses. The drug is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The drug’s strength and how easily it can be added to other drugs, such as heroin, has made for a deadly combination.

Efforts by local law enforcement and federal agencies to curb the distribution of fentanyl pills has resulted in arrests and convictions.

Accidental deaths

The decrease in the number of overdoses is part of a larger drop in accidental deaths.

Benton County had 56 people die in accidents in 2019. That included 10 vehicle crashes, eight people who died after falling, two people who drowned including a working lineman who fell into the Columbia River and a person who choked.

In addition, there are 12 deaths that don’t fall into the normally reported classifications, including a homeless man who died in his van in a Kennewick driveway from carbon monoxide poisoning.

In Franklin County, one person drowned, two died in car crashes and a man accidentally shot himself. There were four other fatal accidents, including a farming accident an overturned tractor.

Including the overdoses, 12 people died in accidents in 2019, a drop from 21 the year before.

Franklin County homicides

The number of deaths caused by other people also dropped in both counties after a violent 2018.

Franklin County had six people die in two Interstate 182 car wrecks and two officer-involved shootings. The death of the baby poisoned by fentanyl is also under investigation as a possible homicide.

In February, Michelle L. Scheuerman, 48, and Kimberly D. Young, 44, were killed when a speeding Chrysler Sebring slammed into the back of a Jeep and sent it careening across an interstate. It ended up in the oncoming lanes where it was hit by three other cars.

Young, who was the Jeep, died at the scene. Scheuerman was in another car and died three days later.

The Sebring’s driver, Eduardo Lopez, 23, reportedly drank two alcoholic energy drinks before the crash. He is facing a February trial for two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular assault.

In March, Noe P. Cruz, 37, of Pasco, died when Juan M. Velasco lost control of the Acura that Cruz was riding in. The car rolled on the off-ramp at Road 68 and Cruz was killed.

Velasco, was drunk and pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide. He was sentenced five years in prison.

In November, a former Marine, Dante Redmond Jones, 28, got involved in a chase where he tried to ram a Franklin County deputy. He was shot several times by Deputy Cody Quantrell and died.

The second officer-involved shooting was Dec. 14 when Pasco police showed up at a home after a report that Alejandro Betancourt-Mendoza, 18, was stealing cellphones.

He and his cousin struggled with Pasco police officers, who were stabbed before Bentancourt-Mendoza are shot.

And while Franklin County sheriff’s detectives believe Estela Torres Rodriguez, 58, was killed on March 28, her body has not been found, so her suspected death wasn’t included in the coroner statistics for the year.

5 fatal shootings in Benton County

Benton County also saw two fewer homicides last year with five shootings.

The first happened in January when Emilio Elizondo, 21, was gunned down in front of his home near the corner of Goethals and Davenport Street. No one has been arrested for his death.

The second was in May when Daniel Rice, 30, of West Richland, was killed in the driveway of a Richland apartment building, by the boyfriend of a woman he was allegedly stalking, said Richland police.

Kyle Johnson-Clark was arrested in Missouri after a months-long search. He is currently facing charges in that state related to his arrest and has yet to be brought back to the Tri-Cities.

Days after Rice was shot, a group of teen gang members are accused of shooting Andrea Nuñez, 20, on a residential street in Kennewick. Adrian Mendoza and Marin Jesus Rivera, Jr., are facing murder charges for killing the pregnant Kennewick woman.

The final homicide was Aug. 11, when Silvestre Rojas Fuentes Sr., 55, allegedly killed his wife, Graciela Gomez, in their Prosser home with a gun he kept under his pillow.

Suicides

While homicides and accidents dipped in Benton County, the number of suicides was up slightly to 36. Most of them involved guns and 11 were hangings.

The suicide rate reached a 10-year peak in Benton County in 2017 when 47 died by suicide.

Across the river, four people died by suicide in Franklin County in 2019, which was half the number the year before. Two involved guns and two were hangings.