An accused drug dealer is officially heading to trial in Ventura County’s first fentanyl murder case.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that Rodney Rey Yanez, 56, of Oxnard, has been held to answer for the second-degree murder of a gas station employee.
This decision came after a four-day preliminary hearing where 16 witnesses were called, officials said, including a firefighter paramedic and several law enforcement narcotics experts.
In addition to the murder charge, officials said Yanez was also charged with nine felonies and four misdemeanors related to his alleged drug possession and sale activity.
According to the DA’s Office, it was on Sept. 20, 2023, when Yanez allegedly sold fentanyl to Dylan Rusch at an Oxnard gas station.
Rusch, who was working at the gas station, then overdosed in the restroom.
Officers and paramedics later found Rusch and, despite life-saving efforts, pronounced him dead at the scene.
The victim’s toxicology results showed a lethal level of fentanyl was the cause of death. The DA Office’s initial report did not include whether Rusch knew what he was taking.
Officers with the Oxnard Police Department arrested Yanez on July 24, 2024, and booked him at the Ventura County Main Jail. He remains in custody with $1 million bail.
The DA’s Office said Yanez is charged in a series of alleged drug offenses for possessing and transporting for sale fentanyl, methamphetamine and other drugs in the 14 months before Rusch’s death.
“We believe the evidence in this case is compelling and fully supports the judge’s findings,” said prosecutor Audry Nafziger. “We are prepared and eager to present this case to a jury at trial.”
Yanez returns to court on April 10 for an arraignment on information.
