Tarrant County prosecutors announced their first conviction under that allows them to charge people with murder for giving someone else a fatal dose of fentanyl.
Kaeden Farish, 19, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 19 years in prison for selling fentanyl-laced pills to a 17-year-old boy who died of an overdose, according to the Tarrant County District Attorney鈥檚 Office.
"We will continue to go after those who seek to profit from this deadly drug. You make it or deal it to someone who dies, we'll charge you with murder,鈥� Tarrant County DA Phil Sorrells said in a press release.
四虎影院 has reached out to both the DA鈥檚 office and Farish鈥檚 attorney with interview requests.
State Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, . He praised Sorrells.
鈥淲e have to put the people who kill our citizens behind bars,鈥� he wrote.
At least one other fentanyl murder charge is still pending in Tarrant County, according to court records. That's the case against Jacob Linsday, 47, who allegedly gave 26-year-old Brandon Harrison the dose of fentanyl that killed him.
Tarrant County prosecutors also brought a murder case against , 35, after the overdose death of former Tarrant County associate judge William Shane Nolen. A grand jury no-billed Ludwig, meaning they decided she should not be prosecuted.
These cases are part of Tarrant County鈥檚 push to seek the stiffest sentences in drug cases. Last year, the DA鈥檚 Office formed a new narcotics unit to handle cases involving fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs.
Assistant DA Michael Ferry told 四虎影院 at the time the unit would focus on big-time narcotics distributors.
"If you're talking about a boyfriend giving a pill to a girlfriend, that's probably not a case that's appropriate for the murder charge,鈥� he said.
Critics of overdose murder laws say they typically punish people who use drugs, not kingpins, and that increased prosecution reduces the supply of and demand for drugs.
It鈥檚 unclear how many people statewide have been convicted so far under the new fentanyl murder law.
Last year, Jasinto Jimenez of Wichita Falls was sentenced to 45 years in prison for selling the fentanyl that killed Andres Diaz. His murder case was filed in Wichita County in 2022, before the 2023 fentanyl murder law passed.
Jimenez sold the pills to a woman who later gave one to Diaz, according to court documents.
Jimenez鈥檚 attorney appealed his conviction to the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth, arguing the evidence introduced at trial wasn鈥檛 enough to prove that delivery of fentanyl 鈥渋s objectively an act clearly dangerous to human life."
鈥淒iaz is not mentioned in the messages to purchase the fentanyl, was not spoken of during the transaction, and was never made known to Jasinto,鈥� Jimenez鈥檚 attorney wrote in his appeal. 鈥淭here is no basis for the jury to infer that Jasinto would know that fentanyl would later be distributed to him or anyone else.鈥�
Wichita County prosecutors dismissed that argument in a subsequent filing.
鈥淗e committed a clearly-dangerous act by selling and delivering illicit fentanyl, a lethal poison, while knowing that it was fatally dangerous and while expecting it to be consumed,鈥� they wrote.
Jimenez鈥檚 appeal is pending.
Other counties across the state are pursuing fentanyl murder cases, including ,
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on X @MirandaRSuarez.
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