Teen in Soledad dies after taking counterfeit pill

SOLEDAD, Calif. (KION) Police in Soledad have confirmed the death of a Senior at Pinnacles High School.

Sebastian Edeza, known as Sebas by friends and family, passed on Saturday after a narcotics overdose. The 18-year-old took a counterfeit pill that he did not realize would end his life—the drugs he had tested positive for fentanyl.

His death is being investigated as a homicide by The South Monterey County Task Force.

"We need to start looking at this as a health crisis. Since 2019 we've seen that there's been an increase in fentanyl use among our youth and a lot of the data shows that it's 30 and under." These are our young men and women that are dying because of this epidemic so we really need to start looking at it in a different len, " said Soledad Mayor Anna Velazquez. "We really need to look at it as a health crisis - how do we address it? How do we provide the resources to the families and to our youth.

READ MORE: Soledad high school student fentanyl death being investigated as homicide

You can donate to Sebastian's family on a GoFundMe account:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/sebastians-funeral-and-memorial?qid=6a7ce27ab0c471949e18c2b485609d0e