DENTON, Texas — The Denton Police Department has charged an 18-year-old man with the murder of a 17-year-old who died of a fentanyl overdose last September.
Police were dispatched to an overdose call on Sept. 25, 2023, in the 7500 block of Barrymore Road, where they found the victim, Ryan Erwin, unconscious. He was taken to a hospital where he was later declared dead.
While investigating, police say they found evidence that the suspect, Zakkary McReynolds, sold fentanyl to Erwin on the day he died. Erwin's cause of death was determined by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office as combined fentanyl and diphenhydramine toxicity.
McReynolds was arrested on a murder warrant on Jan. 16 by DPD, the Denton County Sheriff's Office and the US Marshals Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force.
Police say McReynolds is currently in the City of Denton Jail and bail has not been set at this time.
This is the third fentanyl murder arrest in Denton since Sept. 1, 2023, when a new state law went into effect creating a criminal offense of murder for supplying fentanyl resulting in death, police say.
