Woman pleads guilty to murder in county’s first fentanyl overdose homicide case

On the morning of June 6, 2024, first responders were called to a residence in unincorporated Simi Valley. A man was dead. Drugs and paraphernalia were found in his room. Toxicology would later confirm what investigators feared: a lethal combination of fentanyl and xylazine had killed him. His name has never been publicly released, but the legal reckoning his death set in motion just reached a historic milestone — and sent a warning across the entire 805 region.

A Guilty Plea That Made History

On July 8, 2026, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that Charity Faith Wiley, 40, of Reseda, had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder — becoming the first person ever convicted of murder in Ventura County stemming from a fentanyl overdose. KTLA reported the plea as a landmark in the county's escalating legal fight against synthetic opioids.

As the Simi Valley Acorn reported, Wiley also pleaded guilty to five additional felonies — drug possession, drug sales, firearm possession, and money laundering — and admitted to several aggravating factors, including that her crimes were carried out with planning, sophistication, and professionalism. She is scheduled to be sentenced at 8:30 a.m. on September 1 in Courtroom 14 of Ventura County Superior Court, where she faces 15 years to life in state prison. She remains held without bail.

"Today's guilty plea sends a clear message that fentanyl dealers will be held accountable for the lives they destroy," DA Nasarenko said in a statement quoted widely in local news coverage. "This is the first murder conviction in Ventura County stemming from a fentanyl overdose."

What the Investigation Revealed

The case began not with a dramatic arrest, but with the quiet, painstaking work of forensic analysis. When investigators from the Ventura County Fentanyl and Overdose Crimes Units (VC FOCUS) responded to the unincorporated Simi Valley residence, they collected drug evidence from the victim's room and waited for toxicology results. Those results showed a lethal amount of fentanyl and xylazine in his system, according to the Ventura County DA's official press release.

Xylazine — sometimes called "tranq" — is an animal sedative that has increasingly appeared in the illicit U.S. drug supply. Unlike fentanyl, it is not an opioid and does not respond to naloxone (Narcan), making overdoses involving the combination especially difficult to reverse. Ventura County health officials have flagged the fentanyl-xylazine combination as an emerging and particularly dangerous threat.

Through months of investigation, VC FOCUS detectives traced the drugs sold to the victim back to Wiley. On March 5, 2025 — nearly nine months after the overdose — VC FOCUS investigators and Simi Valley Police Department officers arrested her at her home in Los Angeles County, according to KEYT News.

"Fatal overdose investigations are complex and require careful coordination between law enforcement, forensic experts, and prosecutors," Senior Deputy District Attorney Audry Nafziger said in a statement. She credited both VC FOCUS and the Simi Valley Police Department's narcotics bureau with tracing the drugs back to the defendant and building the case that led to what she called "a meaningful measure of justice" for the victim's family.

The prosecution was handled by Nafziger and Deputy District Attorney Devin Mirchi, both members of the Ventura County DA's Major Crimes Narcotics Unit.

The Task Force Behind the Case

VC FOCUS is not a single agency — it is a regional coalition. Formed in January 2023, the task force brought together all of Ventura County's law enforcement agencies, the District Attorney's Office, and federal law enforcement partners under one mission: disrupt the supply chain of fentanyl flowing into the county. The roster includes the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, the Simi Valley Police Department, the Oxnard Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, and federal partners.

The Simi Valley Police Department's participation is more than nominal. Its narcotics bureau played a direct role in both the Wiley investigation and her arrest, and the department is embedded in the task force's day-to-day operations. The coalition also works proactively — visiting schools, community groups, and civic organizations to educate residents about the dangers of synthetic opioids, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

This case was not VC FOCUS's only recent murder investigation. In January 2026, the task force also arrested a Torrance man for second-degree murder in connection with a fentanyl overdose death in Thousand Oaks, according to an edhat report, illustrating a broader county-wide enforcement push to treat fatal drug sales as homicides.

A Crisis That Hits Simi Valley Hard

The numbers behind this case are sobering for the Simi Valley community. According to the Ventura County Medical Examiner's 2025 special report, there were 216 overdose deaths in Ventura County last year — an increase from 2024, reversing a recent downward trend. Fentanyl, alone or in combination with other drugs, was present in 134 of those victims' systems, the DA's office confirmed.

Simi Valley itself ranked third in the county for fatal overdose location, behind only Ventura and Oxnard, according to the Ojai Valley News, which reported 26 fatal overdoses in the city in 2025. The Moorpark Acorn also noted that the county's 216 deaths in 2025, while elevated from 2024, still represented a significant decline from 2021 — the deadliest year of the decade — suggesting that enforcement and prevention efforts have had some effect, even as the battle continues.

The 31-to-40 age group suffered the highest number of both overall and fentanyl-specific overdose deaths in the county, with 50 fatalities in that age range in 2025 alone.

What Comes Next — and What You Can Do

Wiley's sentencing hearing is set for September 1. If the court imposes the standard term for second-degree murder, she will face 15 years to life in state prison. The admitted aggravating factors — including planning, sophistication, and professionalism — could weigh heavily when the judge determines her sentence.

For Simi Valley residents, the verdict is both a moment of legal accountability and a reminder of how close to home this epidemic sits. Local and county officials continue to urge residents to learn the signs of overdose, carry naloxone, and know where to turn for help.

Free overdose rescue kits — including naloxone/Narcan — along with addiction resources and information about fentanyl are available through the county's public health portal at ThinkAgainVC.com. Residents can also reach VC FOCUS investigators with tips at (805) 383-8700 or [email protected].