Woman gets 4 years in prison for involvement in death of MoCo teenager

A 20-year-old woman who sold the pills that led to the fentanyl-related death of a 19-year-old from Gaithersburg in 2022 was sentenced Friday to four years in prison, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said Friday in a statement.

Evelin Cabrera, of unknown address, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter during an Oct. 31 court hearing, the statement said. On Friday, Montgomery County District Court Judge Harry Storm sentenced Cabrera to 10 years in prison, with all but four years suspended, and five years of supervised probation upon her release.

According to court records, Cabrera is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Boyds. Samuel Elira Sr., Cabrera's attorney, did not immediately respond to MoCo360's calls and email requests for comment.

“Daniel was a great son who unfortunately took the wrong path to get painkillers,” Pineda-Romero’s mother said of her son, according to the prosecutor’s statement. “He trusted the wrong person, which led to his death. He was a great brother, son and friend.”

Daniel Pineda-Romero of Gaithersburg was pronounced dead by Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) paramedics on December 10, 2022, after they were called to his home for a “work order,” according to charging documents. The term is used to describe a person in cardiac arrest who has stopped breathing and is attempting to be resuscitated.

Paramedics were on scene at the teen's home shortly before at 7:56 p.m. and spoke with Pineda-Romero's brother upon arrival. The brother told MCFRS crews that he last spoke to his brother at 2 a.m. on Dec. 10 and had seen his brother sleeping earlier that afternoon, according to charging documents.

Before calling 911, the brother tried to wake the teen and felt Pineda-Romero “cold to the touch,” the documents say. Shortly after 8 p.m., paramedics pronounced the teenager dead.

According to charging documents, the brother told paramedics that Pineda-Romero “had a problem with Percocet in the past” and that he had seen Pineda-Romero crush and snort a white pill about a month earlier. Percocet is an opioid pain reliever.

The brother “was under the impression [Pineda-Romero] “has not been used since the original date a month ago,” the documents state.

Toxicology results for Pineda-Romera were positive for fentanyl poisoning and the manner of death was undetermined, according to charging documents.

After an investigation into Pineda-Romero's death, county police arrested Cabrera, who, according to charging documents, had contact with the teen just hours before his death. Investigators seized the teen's cellphone and found text and social media messages between the two arranging a location in Silver Spring for the teen to purchase pills.

The billing documents included messages between Cabrera and Pineda-Romero discussing the pickup location and the prices and dosages of the pills. At around 1 a.m. on December 10, 2022, Pineda asked, “Just to make sure it's the high-dose ones, right?”

According to digital court records, an arrest warrant was filed for Cabrera on May 30, 2023. She was arrested on May 2, 2024 and later held without bail by Maryland District Court Judge Rand Gelber.

According to Maryland court records, Cabrera has no other prior drug cases.

Cabrera's sentencing marked the second case in district court Friday involving charges related to the overdose death of a county teenager involving fentanyl intoxication. According to a statement from the district attorney's office, Cesar Alexander Lopez, 24, of Hyattsville, pleaded guilty in district court to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Aiden Vining of Chevy Chase. Lopez faces up to 10 years in prison.

According to the Maryland Department of Health, drug overdose deaths have declined in the county, but fentanyl remains the leading cause of overdoses.

From January to September 2024, there were 57 overdose deaths in the county, according to data presented to the county council in October by local health officials. 35 of those deaths were related to fentanyl. All overdose deaths were men and none were people under 25 years of age.

While the year isn't over yet, the data shows a decline from 2023, when there were 130 overdose deaths. There were also fewer emergency medical services (EMS) calls for overdoses and administration of naloxone, an overdose reversal drug.

Fentanyl accounted for 73% of all overdose deaths in the county in 2023, according to state data. While this is a slight decrease from 2021, when fentanyl accounted for 79% of overdose deaths, it still shows an upward trend. For comparison, in 2015, only 24% of overdose deaths involved fentanyl.

— MoCo360 reporter Ginny Bixby contributed to this report.

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