A father from Portland, whose negligence towards drug activities resulted in a teenage girl’s tragic overdose, has accepted a lenient plea agreement that might leave him without a criminal record or jail time.
Hooman Rahnamoon, aged 52, faced charges of allowing drugs to be consumed on his property and compromising the safety of a minor after his 17-year-old son brought 15-year-old Lauren Dominguez to their home to engage in drug use on February 18, 2023.
Lauren, a freshman at Franklin High School, died from a fentanyl overdose.
On Wednesday, Rahnamoon admitted guilt to the two misdemeanors, but this admission may be retracted due to a deal he made with the prosecutors.
He agreed to undergo drug and alcohol treatment and to keep all minors and controlled substances out of his home, OregonLive reported.
If he abides by these orders, he will be in the clear after a year and a half.
Rahnamoon addressed the courtroom on Wednesday, claiming that he was asleep the night Lauren died inside his house.
‘My son had a problem,’ he said. ‘I’ve never seen it, but he told me.’
Hooman Rahnamoon (pictured), 52, was charged with frequenting a place where drugs were used and endangering the welfare of a minor
Lauren Dominguez (pictured), 15, a freshman at Franklin High School, died from a fentanyl overdose in 2023
But he previously told investigators that he witnessed his son smoking highly addictive fentanyl with Lauren at his house, OregonLive reported.
He also said that he provided his son with anti-overdose drugs at one point.
District Attorney Nathan Vasquez, who was not in office in 2023 when Lauren died, was at the hearing as well.
He noted the person who sold the lethal drugs that killed Lauren still has not been identified.
In court, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Benjamin Souede expressed, as reported by OregonLive, “I am exhausted by this community treating the fentanyl epidemic as merely an issue of homelessness, a transient issue, or a racial problem.”
‘We have to demand more from the leaders of this community… We failed her, the entire community failed Lauren Dominguez.’
Lauren secretly left her home to go to Rahnamoon’s house the night of her death. Her parents, Marc and Tracy, located her by inspecting her social media communications.
It was too late by the time they arrived at his home.
Marc and Tracy (pictured) had called for harsher charges against Rahnamoon, but were grateful that justice was getting served in some capacity
Lauren (pictured) had snuck out to Rahnamoon’s house to do drugs with his 17-year-old son
District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said the community must do more to tackle teen overdoses (pictured: Rahnamoon’s house)
‘Sometimes it feels like we can’t breathe under the weight of her absence,’ Tracy Dominguez said of her daughter.
‘The failure of responsibility has cost us the most precious gift in our lives.’
During a court session in February when Rahnamoon was formally charged, Tracy accused the homeowner of failing to take responsibility for the illegal drug usage occurring in his residence.
Marc and Tracy had called for harsher charges against him, but were grateful that justice was getting served in some capacity.
‘I am bummed, to say the least, but we are taking steps forward. That’s all we ever wanted,’ Tracy said in February.
‘Those were the charges that we could find to fit in the situation. Do I think there’s a greater severity to what happened? Obviously, yes,’ Vasquez agreed at the time.
