Authorities charge two with supplying fentanyl after 15-year-old Carrollton girl’s death

A man and woman accused of supplying the fentanyl that led to the suspected overdose death of a 15-year-old Carrollton girl face federal charges.

Carrollton police arrested Lizbeth Prieto, 19, and Cristian Lopez, 24, who face one count each of conspiracy to distribute and one count each of possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances. It is unclear whether they have attorneys.

Lopez told officers he was the dealer who gave fentanyl to Prieto and she sold it to the girl, police said.

The girl’s death comes amid a fentanyl crisis in North Texas. Federal authorities said the teen, a student at Newman Smith High School, was the fourth child to die of a fentanyl overdose in the area since September.

Undercover meetings

Carrollton police were called June 13 to the 1900 block of Sunridge Road, where officers found the girl — identified as “J.G.” in court records — unresponsive and face down on a bed, according to a criminal complaint. She was taken to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano, where she died.

Officers found 10 blue counterfeit oxycodone pills labeled M30 on her dresser, court documents say. Police said the tablets tested positive for fentanyl.

Authorities said Instagram messages on the girl’s phone showed that Prieto offered to sell her 13 pills for $100 but ended up giving her 12 — so police believe she consumed two pills.

A Carrollton detective working undercover then contacted Prieto and set up a meeting in McKinney to buy M30 pills the following day, the complaint says. Authorities said the address was frequented by Lopez, whom police had been monitoring.

Officers surveilling the area before the transaction saw Lopez’s car arrive and then saw Prieto and another woman get in, acccording to the complaint.

Prieto then met the detective, handing over pills in exchange for marked currency, the complaint says. She went back to Lopez’s car afterward and exited it a short distance from the transaction, accoreding to the complaint.

Police continued to watch Lopez, who was later stopped by officers in Dallas for an outstanding warrant. When officers searched him, they found five of the six marked bills the detective had given Prieto, the complaint says.

Lopez was arrested and told officers he gave Prieto counterfeit M30 pills, according to court documents. Officers tested the pills purchased by the detective, which were positive for fentanyl.

On June 15, the detective reached out to Prieto again and asked to buy more pills. She agreed to meet with the detective in Plano, the complaint says, where she was arrested on an outstanding warrant.

In an interview with police, Prieto said that Lopez supplied her with counterfeit M30 pills and that she sold 12 pills to JG, the complaint says. She told officers she didn’t know the girl’s age but knew she was young.

‘No kid is immune’

Three students in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD died last school year and others were hospitalized in a string of suspected fentanyl poisonings. Some students overdosed on school grounds after consuming pills laced with fentanyl, district officials said.

“Four young lives, lost in an instant. Four families, heartbroken,” U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton said in a written statement. “Fentanyl continues to creep its insidious way through the teenage population, and no kid is immune.”

Gov. Greg Abbott signed a handful of bills aimed at combating the fentanyl crisis in the latest legislative session, including House Bill 6, which allows prosecutors to charge people who manufacture or distribute fentanyl illegally with murder when someone dies from the substance.

Eduardo A. Chávez, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Dallas office, said in a written statement that everyone in the community must work together to prevent tragic outcomes related to fentanyl.

“This is well beyond a Carrollton problem,” Chávez said. “This is a you and me problem as it affects us all.”