Boyfriend, dealers imprisoned after 16-year-old Colorado girl dies from fentanyl overdose

Three Colorado residents are currently serving prison sentences following a 16-year-old girl's drug overdose. 

Kaleb Hale bought six pills from a man and woman in Greeley on July 24, 2021, according to court documents. He brought the pills to a friend's home where he and his girlfriend, identified in the court documents only as "J.H.," crushed one pill and snorted a portion of it. 

"Once at that residence," federal prosecutors stated in another court document, "J.H. decided to try what would be her first, and last, dose of fentanyl."

Hale, then 20 years old, awoke around noon the next day. He had defecated himself and "J.H." had vomited on him, according to the document. She was unconscious and not breathing. He tried to resuscitate her with CPR, but became ill and showered. He called 9-1-1 nearly an hour later. 

"J.H." never recovered. She died, as stated in her autopsy report, from fentanyl intoxication. 

Hale handed over the remaining pills in his wallet to investigators, according to the court document. They all tested positive for fentanyl. All the pills, per investigators, were provided by two people with the social media handles "Maryy Janet" and "Gimmix Wxiem." 

Eventually, authorities arrested Gabriel Orozco, then 24, and Destiny Salazar, then 23. The pair sold "pills as "blues," "30s," "percs," "perxs," and "yerks" through their accounts on Facebook, according to the court document from Hale's case. 

"Both defendants and the individual who purchased the pills were aware (the pills) contained fentanyl," federal prosecutors stated in a 2025 press release when Orozco and Salazar pleaded guilty to fentanyl distribution causing death. "Salazar and Orozco continued to conspire and distribute fentanyl through at least March 2022, when they were arrested on burglary charges.  At the time of their arrest, they possessed distribution quantities of fentanyl."

In fact, Orozco and Salazar were caught selling drugs again in 2023 and 2024, respectively, per court records. They were both recently sentenced to state prison terms for those offenses, and both are currently shown in custody at Colorado Department of Corrections facilities. 

Orozco and Salazar also pleaded guilty to federal charges in the death of "J.H." In December, they received eight- and six-year federal sentences. Court documents do not explain if the federal sentences will be served at the same time as the state terms, or after. But both Orozco and Salazar were ordered by the judge to undergo drug rehabilitation while in prison and submit to supervised probation for a decade after they're released. 

Hale also pleaded guilty to a distribution charge and, also in December, was sentenced. He received 20 months incarceration and six years probation, and was allowed to be housed in an Indiana penitentiary to be close to family. 

Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Greeley Police Department, Brighton Police Department, Weld County District Attorney's Office, and the Weld County Drug Task Force contributed to the investigation which led to the federal prosecutions. 

Family members of "J.H." identified her in an online obituary as Jaydynn Hogan. She is also the focus of "Jaydynn's Light," an effort to "continue Jaydynn's legacy by raising awareness of and educating others on the dangers of illicit fentanyl, while also supporting families who have suffered a similar loss," as stated on the organization's website. It hopes to raise awareness of the dangers of fentanyl.

That website prominently asks, "Is Trying worth Dying?"