A 25-year-old man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to selling the fentanyl pill that led to the death of an 18-year-old woman, a case that marks the first time a fatal overdose in Randall County has resulted in a murder conviction.
Trent River Klein pleaded guilty Tuesday, Jan. 13 to murder in the 2024 death of Vanessa Daniel and was sentenced to 25 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Daniel was found dead Feb. 29, 2024, after Amarillo police responded to a suspicious death call in the 3500 block of Barclay. Investigators initially found no signs of trauma or foul play but later determined her death was caused by a fentanyl overdose.
A months-long investigation involving the police department’s narcotics, homicide and digital forensics units identified Klein as the person who sold Daniel the pill that caused her death, authorities said. The case was later accepted for prosecution by the Randall County District Attorney’s Office.
The conviction is believed to be the first in Randall County stemming from a fentanyl overdose death prosecuted as murder under House Bill 6, a 2023 state law that allows for homicide charges in certain drug delivery cases when a death occurs.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Man gets 25 years in Randall County’s first fentanyl murder case
Reporting by Michael Cuviello, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
