4-Year-Old Found Dad Dead From Fentanyl Sold By Brentwood Duo, DA Says

By Michael Mashburn From Daily Voice

Two men were indicted in connection with the fentanyl overdose death of a Brentwood father whose 4-year-old daughter discovered his body.

Steven Pesantez, 29, of Brentwood, and Isaiah Skees, 27, of Bay Shore, were charged with multiple drug-related felonies in Suffolk County Court Thursday, Aug. 28, following a months-long investigation.

The case stems from the Feb. 12 death of a man in Brentwood who died of fentanyl intoxication, prosecutors said. His young daughter was the one to find him.

Pesantez allegedly sold the fentanyl that led to the fatal overdose, according to investigators.

Detectives later began tracking Skees as an alleged supplier of pressed fentanyl pills in the Amityville area. An undercover officer bought pills from Skees on three separate occasions, prosecutors said. On two of those deals, Pesantez reportedly drove him to the exchange.

In a text message sent days after the Brentwood death, Skees allegedly told the undercover officer, “I don’t get the crazy strong ones no more. My man caught a body off them,” prosecutors alleged.

Pesantez was arrested in July on unrelated burglary charges. During a probation search of his home, officers allegedly found cocaine, a digital scale, and multiple blue M30 pills resembling Percocet. The pills matched those allegedly sold by Skees.

Skees was arrested Friday, Aug. 1, and allegedly had fentanyl powder in his possession at the time.

Both men are charged with felony criminal sale of a controlled substance and related counts.

“No child should ever have to find their parent dead from an overdose,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney. “Public safety demands that we treat each of these deaths not as accidents, but as preventable tragedies caused by deliberate criminal conduct.”