(L.A.) Kaitlin Petsche, 29, Died in a Vehicle

Case Number: 2018-07782

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 29-year-old Caucasian female that occurred in a vehicle.

The coroner’s office has identified the woman as Kaitlin Petsche.

Manner of Death: Accident

Cause of Death: Acute Oxymorphone and Alprazolam Toxicity

Other Significant Conditions: Clinical History of Long Qt Syndrome

RIP KAITLIN PETSCHE (May 14, 1989 – October 10, 2018)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Wednesday at 11:11 a.m.

In June 2023, a Hacienda Heights man was sentenced to a dozen years behind bars for distributing drugs that caused the death of Kaitlin Petsche.

Calvin Chi, 30, pleaded guilty in June 2022 to one federal count of distribution of oxymorphone resulting in death.

Along with the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips ordered Chi to pay restitution of $14,595 to the victim’s estate.

Court papers show investigators uncovered text communications between Chi and the victim that showed the defendant sold the oxymorphone, along with alprazolam — also known as Xanax — to the victim hours before her death.

The woman was found dead, slumped over in the front seat of her car, parked about a half mile from Chi’s San Gabriel Valley residence.

Chi was indicted by a Los Angeles federal grand jury in May 2021.

In the fall of 2019, Chi was convicted in state court of unrelated drug trafficking charges and sentenced to probation. In July 2020, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department conducted a probation compliance check of Chi’s home and found evidence of drug sales, including scales, baggies, a variety of pills, and more than five grams of methamphetamine.

In addition to the charge of distribution of narcotics resulting in death, Chi was charged with possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.