A former city employee who admitted to supplying the drugs that caused a woman he’d been dating to overdose has pleaded guilty to reduced charges as part of a plea agreement with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
As part of the plea deal, the former employee, Jarid Nakamura, pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter and admitted the aggravating factor that the woman, Sokly Sar, was “particularly vulnerable” at the time of the crime, according to the DA’s office.
Nakamura will be sentenced to 11 years in state prison on Feb. 22, prosecutors said. He previously faced one count of murder in connection to Sar’s death.
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Authorities say they found Sar dead from an overdose in the 1700 block of Cedar Avenue on July 6, 2020.
At the time, there was limited evidence to suggest Sar had been the victim of a crime, police said. An autopsy revealed she had overdosed on a combination of methamphetamine and alcohol, but her death was ruled an accident.
In March 2023, Nakamura went to the Long Beach Police Department, asked to speak with detectives and said he’d given Sar the narcotics that killed her, according to the LBPD.
At the time of the crime, Nakamura had worked with the city’s Harbor Department for roughly three years. Records show he worked as a maintenance assistant. He previously worked with the same department from 2009 to 2011.