TCSO said it secured a fentanyl-related murder warrant in what it said was a months-long investigation stemming from a homicide that occurred on Aug. 4, 2024. TCSO said this is the first fentanyl-related murder warrant it has filed on the state level.
According to TCSO, deputies responded to a call to assist EMS in the 3300 block of Killingsworth Lane and found a man lying on the floor. Deputies attempted life-saving measures but the man was pronounced dead on the scene.
TCSO identified the man who died as Raymundo Silva, Jr., 22. Deputies found a round, blue pill at the scene, which later tested presumptively positive for fentanyl, according to the sheriff’s office.
TCSO said an autopsy determined Silva’s cause of death to be toxic effects of fentanyl, cocaine, ethanol and quetiapine.
Detectives were able to identify Noe Arrellano-Perez, 21, as Silva’s potential supplier of the drugs. Arrellano-Perez was charged with first-degree murder this week and remains in custody in the Travis County Jail as of Tuesday, according to online jail records.
Last legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 6, which upgrades the charges to murder for providing fentanyl that results in a death. The law also requires that death certificates specify fentanyl toxicity or fentanyl poisoning as the cause of death, instead of an overdose.
Gov. Greg Abbott also signed three other bills related to combating the fentanyl crisis into law last session. House Bill 3144 establishes October as Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month. Senate Bill 867 would allow narcotic overdose reversal medicine called Narcan to be distributed to colleges and universities in the state.
House Bill 3908, which has also become known as “Tucker’s Law,” was named after Stefanie Roe’s 19-year-old son who died from fentanyl poisoning back in 2021. The law requires Texas public schools to provide education on fentanyl abuse prevention.
Since her son passed away, Roe created Texans Against Fentanyl and has been working passionately to get law enforcement to take fentanyl poisonings more seriously.
“I use this analogy of someone might get in a fistfight, but they’re not going to pull out a gun and shoot someone because they don’t want to be charged with murder,” Roe said. “I’m hoping that the consequences do discourage people from selling.”
