A Williamson County man will spend the next 30 years
in prison after being convicted of selling the fentanyl that led to a man’s death. On March 3, Marek Dillard was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of Remington Allison, following his death due to a fentanyl overdose in Leander in 2023.
On Sept. 21, 2023, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office’s Organized Crime Unit responded to a residence on Snelling Drive in Leander regarding an alleged overdose death. When deputies arrived, they found a man, identified as Allison, dead.
According to an affidavit released at the time of Dillard’s arrest, a video showed Allison “exhibiting signs of being under the influence of narcotics,” and his girlfriend said she had seen him show when he took drugs that contained fentanyl. The affidavit also said the video showed Allison in a “drug-induced daze” before he fell down on a kitchen floor, where he died.
A search of Allison’s phone led to the discovery of a text exchange on Sept. 20 between Allison and Dillard. In the exchange, Dillard told Allison he had 25 “blues” for sale. The affidavit stated that “blues” is a fake name for pills containing fentanyl.
Allison allegedly met with Dillard at a Motel 6 off Interstate 35 North on Sept. 20, according to videos from the motel. Detectives also discovered cash app information that revealed Allison paid Marek for the 25 pills.
Investigators later discovered 13 pills with “M30” printed on them and a white plate with residue on it in Allison’s bathroom. Tests revealed the pills and residue contained fentanyl. Alison’s autopsy report also showed he died from a fentanyl overdose. Dillard was then arrested on Feb. 9, 2024, on a first-degree murder warrant, making him the first person the county has charged with murder for a fentanyl-related death.
Back in June 2023, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 6, which “creates a criminal offense of murder for supplying fentanyl that results in death, enhances the criminal penalty for the manufacturing or delivery of fentanyl, and requires deaths caused by fentanyl to be designated as fentanyl toxicity or fentanyl poisoning on a death certificate.”
