2 charged with murder after 18-year-old battling addiction dies day after Texas fentanyl law enacted

Fentanyl murder charges were filed against Muhammad Rafay and Angel Barrientos, who are accused of causing Jovan Ortiz's death in Harris County.Two alleged drug dealers accused of selling an 18-year-old laced fentanyl are now charged with murder under a new Texas law.

However, on Sept. 2, he relapsed after buying pills laced with fentanyl. Cortez Ortiz died just a day after a new state law went into effect, which allows authorities to charge fentanyl dealers and distributors with murder if it leads to death."He was looking for a certain pill, and sure enough, it was laced with something he didn't know about," John Ortiz said.

"Both of these men are facing up to life in prison. That's a lot of leverage for our prosecutors to try and extract more information from the mid-level dealer about where the supply came from," Ogg said. According to Texas Department of State Health Services data, in 2017, there were 49 fentanyl poisoning-related deaths in Harris County. That number jumped to 478 deaths in 2023.

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