A 13-year-old who swallowed cocaine laced with fentanyl died of an overdose in September 2023, prompting a Franklin County grand jury to indict four persons on dozens of criminal charges, Columbus police reported Wednesday.
Ema Lilia Loza-De Leon, 57, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering minors, and corrupt activity, according to Columbus police. She has pleaded not guilty.
Jovany Avila, who is now 18 but was 17 at the time of the overdose, will face the same charges as De Leon if a court agrees with police and prosecutors to try him as an adult. He is currently charged with a juvenile offense of involuntary manslaughter.
Two other suspects, Lezly Avila, 20, and Jose Garcia-Huerta, 26, have been charged with 14 and 20 offenses, respectively, including two charges of corrupt activities. All four defendants face accusations that include either “use of a firearm” or “major drug offender” or a combination of the two.
Police claimed that both Jovany Avila and Garcia-Huerta are in custody. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Lezly Avila had been arrested. According to court documents, all four suspects live in the same house on the city’s South Side.
The Columbus Police Organized Crime Bureau responded to the 200 block of North Warren Avenue on September 5, 2023, after receiving a report of a deadly overdose. When they arrived, they discovered 13-year-old Ulises Loza Garibay, who had overdosed and died from a combination of cocaine and fentanyl, according to authorities.
Police also saw that when they entered the property, packages of narcotics were visible. Narcotics detectives acquired a search warrant and seized nearly eight kilograms of narcotics, including fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and crack cocaine, along with two guns, according to police. After the seizure, narcotics officers and the Organized Crime Bureau launched a drug investigation.
Officers and detectives collaborated with the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center to seize and search various electronic devices, resulting in “several more major drug seizures,” according to police.
On November 9, 2023, cops apprehended a tractor-trailer heading from California to Ohio. Israel Garcia, the driver, was arrested after authorities said they discovered 15 kilograms of cocaine in the truck’s cab. According to investigators, Garcia admitted to supplying 17 kilograms of cocaine to Jovany Avila under Ema Loza’s directions.
Two months later, on January 10, Columbus police detained Ema Loza during a traffic check after finding a “felony amount” of narcotics on her person.
On January 25, Columbus police narcotics investigators and Organized Crime Bureau agents searched a home in the first block of Dering Avenue on the South Side. Police said they seized nearly two kilograms of unspecified substances, as well as additional evidence indicating the suspects’ involvement in a drug trafficking ring.