(L.A.) Steven Ryback, 34, Died at a Rehab / Detox Center
Case Number: 2021-13437
Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 34-year-old Caucasian male that occurred at a rehabilitation / detox center.
The coroner’s office has identified the man as Steven Ryback.
Manner of Death: Accident
Cause of Death: Fentanyl Toxicity
RIP STEVEN RYBACK (May 25, 1987 – December 10, 2021)
Formal pronouncement of death was made on Friday at 6:25 a.m.
Incident Location: “Safe Refuge”
728 Freeman Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90804
In August 2024, a woman named Jayleen Feusier, 37, of South Gate, was sentenced to eight years in prison after having pleaded guilty in March to one federal count of distribution of fentanyl.
Feusier’s co-defendant, Juan Carlos Gutierrez, 34, of Montebello, had been found guilty at a federal court trial of one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury, a felony that carries a sentence of between 20 years and life imprisonment.
Evidence presented at the eight-day trial showed that Gutierrez on Dec. 9, 2021, distributed fentanyl to Feusier. Previously that night, Feusier, in exchange for $60, agreed to get fentanyl for Ryback, who was living at a Long Beach drug treatment facility.
Later that night, Feusier broke off a gram of the fentanyl that Gutierrez provided to her, packaged it in a small plastic baggie, and placed the baggie, a lighter, and drug paraphernalia into a small box.
She then placed the small box into a bag with a black T-shirt to mask the contents, ordered an Uber delivery service, and placed the item on the backseat of the vehicle to be delivered to Ryback at the rehabilitation facility. Feusier then sent a link to Ryback so he could track the Uber as it traveled to him, federal prosecutors said.
At around 11 p.m. that night, Ryback jumped a fence and retrieved the package from the Uber vehicle, then went back inside the drug treatment facility. About six hours later, Ryback’s body was discovered inside the facility’s living room. The drug paraphernalia sent by Feusier was discovered near the corpse.
Gutierrez, who has been in federal custody since May 2023, will be sentenced on October 15.