The State of Texas is fed up with fighting drug dealers including fentanyl dealers. In 2023, over 5000 people died of drug overdose in the State of Texas. Almost half of the deaths in Texas were caused by fentanyl.
In September of 2023, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 6–a law allowing prosecutors to charge people supplying fentanyl with capital murder if the recipient dies as a result of fentanyl overdose. An 18-year-old Austin, Texas man is learning about this the hard way.
The Overdose in Question
According to the story reported by Fox 7, on April 13, 17-year-old Sienna Rae Contreras was found dead in her bed after an apparent overdose of fentanyl. She went to bed the night before and never woke up.
The Austin Police Department investigated the death and determined that she had consumed fentanyl the day before. The fentanyl was allegedly supplied by Xavier Alexzander Buentello (age 18). He has been charged with murder.
Supplying Fentanyl and the Murder Statute
The change implemented by the Texas Legislature was a change that works in conjunction with the already existing Murder Statute found in Texas Penal Code Sec. 19.02. They reclassified fentanyl as a “penalty Group 1-B drug under section 481.1022. By doing so, fentanyl now falls under 19.02 subsection (b)(4) which states that a person commits the offense of murder if the person:
“knowingly manufactures or delivers a controlled substance included in Penalty Group 1-B under Section 481.1022, Health and Safety Code, in violation of Section 481.1123, Health and Safety Code, and an individual dies as a result of injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or introducing into the individual ’s body any amount of the controlled substance manufactured or delivered by the actor, regardless of whether the controlled substance was used by itself or with another substance, including a drug, adulterant, or dilutant.”
This amendment became law on January 1, 2024.
Not an Isolated Prosecution
Mr. Buentello is not the only Austin-area person who has been charged with murder for the delivery of fentanyl since this law was enacted. A 25-year-old was arrested by Cedar Park Police in May and charged under the same statute. Thus, Austin-area prosecutors are taking the reclassification of fentanyl seriously.
Even Recreational Drug Users Should Take Notice of The Breadth of the Statute
While the two individuals noted above were both charged as people who allegedly sold the fentanyl to the victims, the statute does not restrict the district attorney’s ability to charge people to the drug dealer. The statute provides that anyone who manufactures the drug or supplies fentanyl can be charged if the user dies as a result.
Due to the broad language, anyone who has a hand in the production or delivery of the drug, whether they make money off it or not, can be responsible if someone dies. So, if the drug is sold and resold through 4 different sellers before being consumed, all 4 are guilty of murder if the consumer dies. The manufacturer is guilty too. Another example to consider, if a person acquires fentanyl for personal use and shares it with his friend and that friend dies, then that person is guilty of murder.
Conclusion
Fentanyl is a deadly drug. Texas is cracking down on fentanyl users. No “high” is worth risking your life over nor risking spending the rest of your life in prison over.
Author
