An 18-year-old alleged fentanyl dealer has been charged with murder in the overdose death of a 17-year-old boy in Texas, authorities announced Tuesday.
Ryan Irwin was found unresponsive in a home in the 7500 block of Barrymore Road in Denton on the morning of Sept. 23 after officers responded to an overdose call, according to the Denton Police Department.
Erwin was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office ruled that the boy's death was caused by the combined toxicity of fentanyl and diphenhydramine.
During the investigation into the boy's death, detectives discovered evidence that Zachary McReynolds sold fentanyl to Irwin the morning of his death, police said.
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Zachary McReynolds, 18, was arrested and charged with murder in connection to Ryan Irwin, who died of a fentanyl overdose 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.
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McReynolds is being held at the Denton City Jail.
Police said McReynolds' arrest in connection with the fentanyl murder is the department's third since a new state law went into effect in September that criminalizes the supply of fentanyl leading to death.
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According to publicly available 2023 Texas health data, there were 1,511 deaths from fentanyl poisoning through September.
