EGN NEWS DESK
Raymond Gene Tyrrell II, 21, has already served 3 1/2 years behind bars awaiting trial for supplying the lethal opioid to Jenna Lynn Gordon, on Feb. 24, 2021. A jury on Tuesday convicted Tyrrell of the lesser cost of manslaughter, rejecting a homicide conviction that will have carried a jail sentence of 15 years to life.
Related: French Valley man convicted of manslaughter, not homicide, in fentanyl-related loss of life of teenage girlfriend
Expand
Mother ‘devastated’
Gordon’s mom, Tammy Lyon-Gordon, informed the court docket Wednesday she was extraordinarily disenchanted that Tyrrell was not convicted of homicide.
“To say I’m devastated in regards to the jury’s verdict is an understatement,” Lyon-Gordon mentioned throughout her sufferer affect assertion earlier than Judge Judge Stephen J. Gallon within the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. “The jury’s determination yesterday introduced me to my knees, as a result of I really feel like I’ve misplaced my daughter over again.”
She mentioned her daughter, who was tall at 5-foot-8, had piercing blue eyes and cherished horses. She aspired to attend faculty in Montana and change into an equine veterinarian, she mentioned.
And Gordon wasn’t Lyon-Gordon’s solely little one to die of a fentanyl overdose. Her 18-year-old son, Tyler, died 10 months earlier than Jenna after taking a counterfeit Percocet capsule. Edward Hernandez, 24, of Menifee faces federal costs for supplying him with the drug, and a trial is scheduled for March 31, 2025, in U.S. District Court in Riverside.
“On Feb. 24, 2021, my complete world modified for a second time — I misplaced my little one by the hands of one other individual,” Lyon-Gordon mentioned. “While the paramedics had been in my home attempting to save lots of my daughter, I used to be on my knees begging God to let me swap locations with Jenna, to take me as an alternative.
“I’ve misplaced 95 kilos since Jenna’s life was taken. I had already misplaced my 18-year-old son. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t breathe due to my fixed anxiousness. I’ve been battling despair for over three years. I’m in fixed struggle or flight mode,” Lyon-Gordon mentioned. “I don’t have desires after I sleep anymore. I really feel like a shell of the individual I was. I had a function in life, and that was being her mom. (Tyrrell) stole my function in life.”
She mentioned she believes Tyrrell is a “true hazard to our neighborhood and to society.”
“He knew that my son died from a faux Percocet, he knew others who died from this as effectively. He himself virtually died from faux tablets, but he nonetheless gave it to her realizing the risks,” Lyon-Gordon mentioned.
Tyrrell informed sheriff’s investigators in a video-recorded interview he had overdosed as soon as earlier than after taking a counterfeit Percocet capsule, and that he had been fortunate he survived. He additionally informed investigators he knew different individuals who had overdosed and died.
Prosecutors mentioned he and Jenna shared certainly one of six counterfeit Percocet tablets he had obtained, crushing it and snorting it in her bed room.
Defendant ‘deeply sorry’
In a press release by Tyrrell learn by his lawyer, Charles Kenyon, the defendant mentioned he was “deeply sorry” for his actions and any position he performed in Gordon’s loss of life.
“I did care about Jenna, and by no means would have performed something to harm her. I’m sorry for any ache I’ve induced her household and pals,” Kenyon mentioned within the assertion.
Tyrrell mentioned he would attempt to search ongoing assist for his habit.
“I’ll attend drug remedy as a result of I do know I’ll struggle this the remainder of my life. If I can save another person from medication, I pledge to try this, too,” Kenyon mentioned on behalf of Tyrrell. “I’m sorry for my actions, and can dwell with this shameful burden of remorse for the remainder of my life.”
Prosecutor: Another probability at life
Prosecutor Gerald Pfohl mentioned informed the court docket that Tyrrell is lucky he’s getting one other shot at life.
“Today and perpetually, there’s a necessity to recollect Jenna Gordon and a life that was minimize brief,” he mentioned.
As for Tyrrell, Pfohl mentioned, he twice obtained one other probability at life after surviving two overdoses, and is about to obtain his third after successful his launch from custody.
“Where he goes from right here goes to be that third probability,” Pfohl mentioned. “The concept that somebody was introduced again from the brink of loss of life and has an opportunity on this world, what’s he going to do? It is the query he must stroll away from this courtroom with.”
Tyrrell faces one other felony offense for allegedly fashioning a shank May 2 whereas in custody on the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, based on a legal criticism filed June 7. Kenyon mentioned Wednesday that Tyrrell will obtain credit score for time served for that offense as effectively and that it might not have an effect on his launch from jail. Tyrrell, nevertheless, will obtain two years of formal probation, Kenyon mentioned.
Tyrrell was charged with a single rely of homicide on March 1, 2021, after the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office pledged to crack down on those that provide deadly doses of fentanyl. Since 2021, the workplace has filed 36 instances in opposition to those that allegedly equipped fentanyl.
Originally Published:
