SMITH COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – A Texas man accused of selling fentanyl-laced pills was charged with the murder of a 23-year-old overdose victim.
Cory Darell Long, 23, tragically passed away in a Tyler emergency room on April 17 after overdosing. At the scene of the overdose on Byrd Lane, investigators found pills labeled M-30, a type known to be laced with fentanyl. Subsequent testing at the Texas DPS Crime Lab confirmed the presence of fentanyl in the pills. Fentanyl is a manufactured opioid that is a staggering 100 times stronger than morphine, with a fatal dose being as tiny as a single grain.
“There’s no quality control when they make these fentanyl-laced pills,” Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said at a press conference on Thursday.
Nadarius Tyreque Houston, 24 of Tyler, was arrested in April for manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was taken to the Smith County Jail on April 25.
Long’s autopsy determined that he died due to the toxic effects of fentanyl, or fentanyl poisoning. According to Smith, it took several months to get the toxicology report, which is why the murder charge was delayed.
“Mr. Houston is an unlucky soul because he’ll be prosecuted and he’ll be made an example of,” Smith said.
On Tuesday, authorities got an arrest affidavit for murder for Houston with a bond of $500,000. Houston, who was already in jail, had the charge added to his others.
“We’re sick of seeing it, we’re sick of getting these calls of overdose,” Smith said.
Previously, Smith has sounded the alarm on the flow of illegal drugs from Mexico into the U.S., calling it an “epidemic.”
“Until the border is closed, and even when it is closed, it will be very hard to stop fentanyl from coming over,” Smith said.
