Joe Nathan Boggs Jr., right, is accused of furnishing a fatal dose of fentanyl to Illeanna Makena Frease, left. (Victim’s photo from her obituary; Mug shot from Lake County Sheriff’s Office)
An ex-convict from California faces charges in the fentanyl poisoning death of a 17-year-old girl.
Joe Nathan Boggs Jr., 27, faces charges of second-degree murder, possession of drugs for sale, transportation of a controlled substance for sale and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor in the death of 17-year-old Illeanna Makena Frease, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Frease was killed on Nov. 10, 2023, authorities said in a news release.
Lake County Sheriff’s investigators were dispatched to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, where she died of a suspected overdose. Toxicology reports later confirmed she overdosed from fentanyl and alcohol.
A criminal investigation was launched. After interviewing witnesses and reviewing cellphone data and social media, authorities determined Boggs was the suspect. He was booked into the Lake County Jail on $1 million bail.
Officials said this case was the county’s first arrest for a fentanyl homicide.
Frease was a tribal citizen of the Elem Indian Colony Pomo Nation. Her father spoke out during a tribal summit in March on fentanyl overdoses in Humboldt County, ABC’s affiliate in Redding, California, KCRTV reported.
“They got her drunk, they overdosed her with fentanyl, and then they robbed her,” he told the station. “Right now, she’s being considered one of the first cases in Lake County history to be prosecuted.”
In a Facebook post, the victim’s mother said her daughter was “loved fiercely by all who knew her — especially her siblings.”
She also called out the suspect, whose criminal history includes charges for drugs, vandalism, assault, grand theft and possession of a gun by a convicted felon, online court records show.
“Her sweet, loving, determined spirit was her greatest strength,” her mother said. “She was also a descendant of a long line of women who shared that strength, were survivors of genocide, and became back bones of their respective tribal nations. Illeanna lost her life to an ever growing form of genocide, she was poisoned by Fentanyl. Killed by a predator who took advantage of her Tribal family ties. He trafficked my daughter and poisoned her to death. This drug trafficking, predatory murderer operated both on and off tribal lands openly, with no regard for the damage he was causing.”
Boggs is set for an arraignment on Monday, jail records show.
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