CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – After two days of testimony and nearly six hours of deliberation, a Montgomery County jury found Dominic Enrique Rios, 33, not guilty on all charges in a 2022 fentanyl overdose death.
Rios was acquitted of second-degree murder and selling and delivering fentanyl in the death of 27-year-old Matthew Ashburn.
What happened the night Ashburn died
Ashburn was found dead on the back deck of his Hunting Creek Court home on Aug. 14, 2022. Investigators previously testified that a folded piece of paper containing blue residue tested positive for fentanyl. Cut straws were found in the trash, and Ashburn’s phone showed a series of late-night calls with Rios.
Jurors also saw messages Ashburn sent to his friend Taylor Mayes around 1:06 a.m. on Aug. 13, including “I got that” and “He pulled up on me LOL.” Google Maps data showed Rios’ phone at the residence minutes earlier. In a police interview played for jurors earlier in the trial, Rios said someone had given Ashburn his number at a party, and later said that person was Mayes.
A medical examiner testified that Ashburn’s cause of death was fentanyl, cocaine and ethanol toxicity.
Ashburn’s mother, Pamela, previously testified that he had struggled with substance abuse in the past. She also said her son loved hunting, fishing and spending time with his family. “He loved to be around his family,” she said. “We did a lot of family dinners.”
Prosecution: ‘He took fentanyl and he died’
Assistant District Attorney Chris West told jurors Rios delivered the fentanyl that caused Ashburn’s death. He pointed to late-night calls between the two, including six calls to Ashburn made to Rios before receiving a call from him at 12:47 a.m.
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West highlighted Google Maps data showing Rios at the home from 12:49 a.m. to 1:02 a.m., followed by Ashburn’s messages to Mayes minutes later. He told jurors Ashburn’s last phone activity was an unanswered outgoing call to Mayes at 1:15 a.m.
West emphasized expert testimony that Ashburn died before his body could metabolize the fentanyl into norfentanyl. “He died before he had the opportunity to break down the fentanyl,” he said. “Basically, he took fentanyl and he died.”
He also referenced cocaine levels in Ashburn’s system, noting that Ashburn’s concentration was 29 nanograms per milliliter. The minimum reporting limit for toxicologists to be able to detect cocaine is 20 nanograms per milliliter.
“The defendant’s conduct need not be the sole or immediate cause of death … (Ashburn) died after taking the fentanyl,” he said. “How is that not proximate cause?”
Defense attorney: ‘It was an accident’
Attorney Timothy Warren, representing Rios, argued that fentanyl was not the proximate cause of Ashburn’s death. “We can all agree that what happened to Mr. Ashburn is a tragedy,” he said.
Warren told jurors the medical examiner testified that Ashburn died from the combined effects of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol – not fentanyl alone. “That cocaine and alcohol already killed him,” he said, explaining the absence of norfentanyl in Ashburn’s system.
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“The law says without the fentanyl, the death would not occur,” he said. “You heard the medical examiner. It was all three.” He argued there was no proof Rios delivered any drugs or alcohol. “I didn’t hear any evidence of a sale, changing money or anything like that,” he said.
Warren also pointed to unanswered questions, including two other vehicles in the driveway and two cut straws in the trash. He criticized the investigation, saying he believed other potential suspects were not thoroughly ruled out.
Warren told jurors the state failed to prove fentanyl was the proximate cause of death, meaning “without which the result would not have occurred.”
“It was an accident,” he said. “Nobody murdered him. Nobody wanted him to die.”
After nearly six hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all counts.
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