Crime & Safety

Police Say Teen's Killing Part of a Drug Deal Gone Bad, Bee Reports

Police say Joseph Oropesa was shot by a local drug dealer after buying Oxycontin from him, according to court documents obtained by the Sacramento Bee.

Police say Elk Grove teen Joseph Oropesa was killed after a drug dealer he bought prescription pain killers from decided to carjack him, The Sacramento Bee is reporting today.

According to court documents obtained by the Bee, a friend of Oropesa's told Elk Grove police that he went with Oropesa to the Dimple Records parking lot on Elk Grove Florin Road Sunday night to buy Oxycontin, which Oropesa planned to sell to earn some extra cash.

There, police wrote in an arrest warrant request, the two met 25-year-old Ryan Allan Hays of Sacramento, who police have since arrested in Oropesa's killing. Hays took $400 in payment for the drugs, then showed Oropesa and his friend a handgun and demanded their car, according to the Bee's account of the court documents. When Oropesa confronted Hays as Hays was starting to drive away in the 1992 Ford Explorer, Hays shot him in the face, police wrote according to the Bee.

Find out what's happening in Elk Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Read the full Sacramento Bee story here.

Hays, who has a prior conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, was booked into Sacramento County Jail Wednesday on charges of murder, robbery and carjacking.

Find out what's happening in Elk Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Memorial services for Oropesa are planned for Friday morning at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 8925 Vintage Park Drive in Sacramento.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Elk Grove