Santa Rosa man sentenced to prison for providing fentanyl to Petaluma woman causing her death

Defendant Chase Kirby, 28 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced today by the Honorable Laura Passaglia to serve the maximum term of four years in local prison.  This sentence came after Mr. Kirby pled “no contest” earlier this month to a felony charge of committing involuntary manslaughter after providing fentanyl to a female acquaintance on September 6, 2021, resulting in her overdose and death. 

District Attorney Rodriguez noted, “Fentanyl continues to kill users and devastate their families and loved ones.  Simply put, if you provide illegal narcotics to another person resulting in her death or injury, you will be prosecuted.”

The charge resulted from a 911 call placed by the victim’s family when they discovered the victim, Ruby Torrens, and Kirby both unconscious in an RV that was parked on the family’s property.  Both Ruby and Mr. Kirby had overdosed on drugs. It was later determined that Ruby had overdosed on fentanyl while Kirby had overdosed on methamphetamine. Ruby was declared dead at the scene.  Mr. Kirby was transported to Petaluma Valley Hospital in critical condition, and later recovered from the overdose. After further investigation, detectives with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department learned that Mr. Kirby had agreed to obtain fentanyl for Ruby in exchange for a place to stay the night. An autopsy concluded the cause of death to be acute fentanyl intoxication. She had just celebrated her 23rd birthday. 

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Thomas Gotshall. Sonoma County Sheriff’s Detective Daniel Negri headed the investigation.