Fentanyl case suspect taken into custody, charged
John Kyle Donnahoo of McMinnville has been charged in U.S. District Court with one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury in connection with the sale of fentanyl he claimed was cocaine that caused seven people to overdose, one fatally.
He was taken into custody Monday at a home in Portland.
The 28-year-old Donnahoo sold powdered fentanyl he claimed was cocaine to an individual at a Northwest Cedar Street residence for $100.
Seven individuals, including the buyer, were present in the residence during the sale. One of them tested the powder twice using fentanyl “test kits,” but neither test produced a positive result.
All seven individuals consumed and overdosed on the fentanyl. Four were treated with Narcan at the scene by responding law enforcement agencies and medical personnel before being transported to the Willamette Valley Medical Center in critical condition. One of the victims, a 37-year-old female, was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Three victims were admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Donahoo took the remaining three victims to the hospital himself.
He made his first court appearance Tuesday, Feb. 28, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckereman ordered him detained as a danger to the community.
He is lodged in the Multnomah County Jail without bail.
See Friday's print edition for additional details.
Comments
BigfootLives
You cannot enable this. Needle exchanges enables drug use. Providing Narcan to addicts, while it is a life saving drug, it is a security blanket that lets them keep using know that 'if' they over dose someone can try and save them with the Narcan.
And you cannot provide fentanyl test kits because the addict will think they can keep using, with a false sense of security, and that the test kit will keep them safe. This test kit failed or was used wrong, either way someone is dead as a result and six others are lucky to be alive. The policy of enabling drug addiction as drug addiction policy has to stop. We have got to face facts and looks at the results of these policies. They do not work.
tagup
I think it’s unlikely that addicts consider the availability of fresh needles or Narcan when deciding to use. Seems to me that the idea behind these programs to save lives and prevent the spread of disease. I think your knowledge of addiction is lacking.
JWC
I'm somewhere between BigFootlives and Tagup. We can and should try to mitigate the carnage from Fentanyl and other drugs with Narcan and needle exchanges. However; we need to aggressively confront the supply. The editorial not so long ago that was published in the MacMinniville News Register that equated fentanyl trafficking with chemical warfare was probably more accurate than the writers imagined. China and Mexico are knowingly and intentionally exporting fentanyl to the United States with the full knowledge of the carnage that it will inflict. Fentanyl is a chemical weapons attack.
The best defense would be to elect a President with a functioning brain who would control our borders. This means Canada as well as Mexico. It would also help if the state of Oregon ceased subsidizing Oregon's decriminalized marijuana industry as well as marijuana bootleggers by enabled ng them to expropriate rental properties for committing Federal felonies. We might even hold drug traffickers accountable for shooting at children.
Joel R
I'm kind of in the middle on this too.
It reminds me of being a parent and raising kids. If you're too harsh and punitive you destroy them. If you're too lenient and soft they run wild and destroy themselves. Finding the sweet spot between those two extremes is really hard to do.
Jean
The local PD will test all of your cocaine for fentanyl.
JWC
Jean:
Actually, it is our judges who will test your cocaine for you.