Christopher Joseph Donnelly
Christopher Joseph Donnelly was 45 and lived in Anaheim. Sources describe him as a man who struggled with mental health and substance use, had a history of depression and anxiety, and was repeatedly evaluated by psychiatric professionals while in custody. Deputies found him unresponsive in his cell at the Orange County Intake Release Center on February 1, 2025, and he was pronounced dead at 8:58 a.m. The Orange County Coroner classified his death as an accident from acute buprenorphine intoxication, and investigators could not determine how he obtained the drug, which he had not been prescribed in custody. The Orange County District Attorney's office concluded that jail personnel committed no criminal wrongdoing.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of an overdose. The Orange County Coroner classified the death as an accident from acute buprenorphine intoxication, and the Orange County District Attorney's report found no criminal wrongdoing by jail personnel.
Reported by: Orange County Coroner (medical examiner or coroner); Orange County District Attorney's Office (outside investigators).