No Verdict in First Day of Deliberations in CV Fentanyl Murder Trial

INDIO (CNS) - Jurors did not reach a verdict in their first day of
deliberations in the trial of a Cathedral City man accused of helping a 22-year-
old Rancho Mirage resident obtain the fentanyl that killed him.
  

Riley Jacob Hagar, 28, of Cathedral City is charged with second-degree
murder for the death of Travis O'Brien on New Year's Day 2022. Hagar could
also be convicted of the lesser offense of involuntary manslaughter.
  

The prosecution and defense delivered closing statements over a two-
day period, ending Thursday. The jury returned to the Larson Justice Center in
Indio Friday to weigh evidence from the two-week trial but concluded
deliberations with no decision. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Anthony
Villalobos directed the panel to return on Monday, March 23, to resume
deliberations. There was no immediate explanation why proceedings will be
paused for a full week.
  

``Mr. Hagar is the connect. He is the plug,'' Deputy District Attorney
Steve Sorensen told jurors in his closing argument. ``Hagar told Travis the
date, the location and other information for how to acquire the (fentanyl-
packed) pills.''
  

The prosecutor said O'Brien ``went to the person he knew could
facilitate (the sale of the drugs)'' -- Hagar.
  

Arrangements were made for O'Brien to procure the fentanyl pills so
that he could turn around and sell them to someone else at a profit, according
to the prosecution. But in addition to selling the hundreds of M30 ``blues,''
O'Brien consumed several of the synthetic opiods, investigators alleged.
  

The young man checked into Room 149 at the Motel 6 in the 69000 block
of Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage, where he intended to stay on Jan. 1, 2022,
according to trial testimony. He was found dead there that afternoon.
  

``Implied malice is at the heart of this case," Sorensen said.
``(Hagar) deliberately acted with conscious disregard to human life. He didn't
care.''
  

The prosecutor asserted that even though O'Brien acted of his own
volition in taking the drugs, the defendant was the conduit for the fentanyl
acquisition, and hence bears responsibility for O'Brien's death from ``acute
fentanyl intoxication.''
  

Defense attorney Ryan Markson rejected the prosecution's
interpretation of what transpired, insisting Hagar wasn't the one who directly
provided the fentanyl and had no idea of the lethality of the particular pills
that the victim ingested.
  

``This is the real thing. It's as real as it gets,'' Markson told the
jury. ``Accountability is at the essence of the justice system. O'Brien caused
his own death.''
  

He asked jurors whether there was anything fair about trying to make
his client ``accountable for Travis' death?''
  

The attorney reminded jurors that O'Brien contacted Hagar, and that
the latter ``wasn't in the business of selling fentanyl,'' but didn't want to
ignore the request for help setting up a transaction.
  

``My client is guilty of poor judgment, not murder,'' Markson said.
  

Hagar, who is being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center,
was arrested in August 2022, following a months-long investigation by the
sheriff's Overdose Death Investigations Unit.
  

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
  

Since February 2021, prosecutors have charged more than three dozen
people in connection with fentanyl poisonings. Two prosecutions have resulted
in murder convictions.
  

Preliminary health statistics indicated there were 229 suspected
fentanyl-related fatalities countywide in 2025, compared to 351 confirmed
poisonings in 2024, a roughly 40% decline.
  

Fentanyl is manufactured in overseas labs, principally in China,
according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which says the opioid is
smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border by cartels.
  

It's 80-100 times more potent than morphine and can be mixed into any
number of street narcotics and prescription drugs, without a recipient knowing
what he or she is consuming. Ingestion of only two milligrams can be fatal.
  

Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.