Man Charged in Mossyrock Controlled Substance Homicide Pleads Not Guilty

The defendant in the fentanyl overdose death of a 27-year-old Mossyrock woman has pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Joshua Ryan Jacobs, 34, of Mossyrock, faces charges of controlled substances homicide and possession of a controlled substance, heroin, in Lewis County Superior Court for allegedly selling the victim, Layla Horton, five fentanyl pills, resulting in Horton’s death from acute fentanyl poisoning on Nov. 10.  

He is currently released from the Lewis County Jail on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to have a trial date set in Lewis County Superior Court on Feb. 4. 

A second defendant, Jason Michael Jensen, 28, of University Place, was arrested Jan. 11 for allegedly selling a number of fentanyl pills both to an undercover informant working for the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET) and to Jacobs, who then sold five of the pills to Horton. 

Jacobs warned Horton about the potency of the pills in text messages before her death, according to court documents. He suggested she only take half a dose, but she responded that she had already taken a full dose. She didn’t respond to subsequent messages, and was later found dead. 

Jensen was charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance and one count each of possession of a controlled substance, heroin, possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, and possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver. 

Horton’s death was one of four caused by fentanyl overdoses in 2020, according to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office. 

Jacobs’ case is one two cases of controlled substances homicide currently making their way through Lewis County Superior Court, with each stemming from a death by fentanyl poisoning. Daniel L. Patnode, of Packwood, was charged in 2019

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $20,000.