Gaylord man facing murder charges in 18-year-old woman’s fentanyl death
A Gaylord man is facing murder charges in the overdose death of a young woman.
Rogelio Lara Jr, 22, is accused of supplying the 18-year-old victim with counterfeit oxycodone – or M30 pills.
Police were called on January 8 to a home in Montgomery for a suspected overdose death. A criminal complaint says the victim, Jada Schwarzrock 18, was deceased when police arrived.
Schwarzrock’s boyfriend, who had discovered her body, told investigators she had been at his Minneapolis apartment the night before and left at around 1:30 a.m. because the couple got into an argument. The boyfriend said he believed she had gone to pick up drugs because she’d turned off the location on her phone.
The complaint says Schwarzrock’s boyfriend tried to call her at 8 a.m. that morning and became worried later in the day when he didn’t receive a response from her.
When police inquired about drug use, Schwarzrock’s boyfriend said she had recently been in two car accidents within three weeks that both involved fentanyl, but that she had been “doing good,” lately.
Police say half of an M30 pill and a small straw that tested positive for fentanyl was found at the scene.
An autopsy determined Schwarzrock died of accidental fentanyl toxicity.
Investigators learned that the victim had paid “Reggie” $20 earlier that morning through a Cash App transaction. “Reggie” was identified as Lara Jr and investigators noted more than a dozen payments to his account from Schwarzrock between November 12 and January 8.
While executing a search warrant at Lara Jr’s home in February, agents from the Cannon River Drug & Violent Offender Task Force, agents found 2 ½ more fentanyl pills.
The complaint says Lara Jr denied having a cash app account or using or selling “blues,” – another name for counterfeit oxycodone. Lara Jr initially denied knowing Schwarzrock, even after police showed him her photo, according to the complaint.
Lara Jr eventually told agents that he had been using M30 pills for quite some time and bought them from a person in Minneapolis. The complaint says Lara would pool money with others to get more pills and a discount. He admitted to knowing Schwarzrock and receiving payments through the cash app to get the pills.
The complaint says he recalled selling Schwarzrock two or three pills around the time of her death.
Lara Jr was arrested on 3rd-degree murder charges. He’s currently in custody at the Le Sueur County Jail.
