close

       Video

       Fox News Flash top headlines for January 17 Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

       Read this article for free!

       Plus get unlimited access to thousands of articles, videos and more with your free account!

       Please enter a valid email address.

       By entering your email, you are agreeing to Fox News Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. To access the content, check your email and follow the instructions provided.

       An 18-year-old alleged fentanyl dealer is being charged with murder in the overdose death of a 17-year-old boy in Texas, authorities said Tuesday.

       Ryan Erwin was found unresponsive at a residence in the 7500 block of Barrymore Road in Denton after officers responded to an overdose call on the morning of Sept. 23, the Denton Police Department said.

       Erwin was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The teen’s cause of death was from combined fentanyl and diphenhydramine toxicity, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled.

       During the investigation into the teen’s death, detectives found evidence that Zakkary McReynolds sold Erwin the fentanyl on the morning of his death, according to police.

       TEEN DRUG OVERDOSES HIT RECORD HIGH, DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY FENTANYL POISONING, SAYS NEW REPORT

       Zakkary McReynolds, 18, was arrested and charged with murder in connection to the fentanyl overdose death of Ryan Erwin in September. (Denton Police Department )

       On Tuesday, police, along with the Denton County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force, arrested McReynolds on a murder warrant in the 700 block of Campbell Lane.

       NEW HAMPSHIRE RESIDENTS SKEPTICAL OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES' APPROACH TO OPIOID CRISIS AS PRIMARY LOOMS

       McReynolds is being held in the City of Denton Jail.

       Video

       Police said McReynolds’ arrest in connection to a fentanyl murder is the department’s third since a new state law went into effect in September that made supplying fentanyl that results in death a criminal murder offense.

       CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

       Publicly available Texas health data for 2023 shows there were 1,511 fentanyl poisoning deaths through September.