Alizon Lopez, a 28-year-old mother of four, tragically lost her life to a fentanyl overdose while incarcerated at Mesa County Jail in Colorado on May 21, 2022.
Her death, ruled accidental by the Mesa County Coroner’s Office, highlighted the dangers of illicit drugs entering correctional facilities.
The incident has led to prison sentences for five individuals involved in delivering the fatal dose.
Incident and Discovery
Alizon Lopez, a 28-year-old mother of four, died from a fentanyl overdose in Mesa County Jail on May 21, 2022.
Lopez was discovered unresponsive by her cellmate shortly after finishing her shift in the jail’s laundry.
Despite efforts from jail deputies and nursing staff to revive her, Lopez never recovered.
The Mesa County Coroner’s Office later determined that her death was due to fentanyl intoxication, ruling it accidental.
Lopez had been in jail since January 2022, facing drug-related charges.
Distribution Chain and Drug Smuggling
Jeremiah Robinson, a six-time convicted felon from Phoenix, was the initial source of the fentanyl pills.
Robinson sold them through his CashApp account and transported them in an older white van.
Efrain Velez, a 36-year-old Denver resident, bought hundreds of these pills from Robinson at a Phoenix park on May 7, 2022.
Velez and his girlfriend, Vanessa Vasquez, smuggled the pills into Colorado by inserting them inside their bodies.
The pills, which resembled Oxycodone but were counterfeit and contained fentanyl, were eventually sold among the jail population.
Inmates paid with money, clothing, and items from the jail’s commissary.
This distribution chain directly led to Lopez’s fatal overdose.
