A Houston father is facing murder and sexual assault charges after allegedly supplying his daughter and her friend with fentanyl on Thanksgiving Day, resulting in his daughter’s death.
Joshua Youngblood, 45, has been charged with murder and sexual assault, authorities announced during a press conference Tuesday.
According to investigators, the incident occurred on Thanksgiving Day in 2023, when Youngblood allegedly gave a lethal dose of fentanyl to his 28-year-old daughter, Jade Youngblood. Deputies responding to her apartment later that night found Jade unresponsive in her bedroom. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her friend was discovered in the bathtub suffering from a suspected overdose. First responders administered a life-saving dose of Narcan.
Court documents reveal that Joshua Youngblood told investigators he arrived at his daughter’s apartment around 10 p.m., drank alcohol with her and her friends, and then fell asleep. He claimed he awoke a few hours later to find his daughter unresponsive.
However, the surviving friend provided a different account. She told investigators that Youngblood brought drugs into the apartment, including marijuana and possibly cocaine and PCP. She also alleged that she awoke in the bathtub with her clothes disheveled, leading her to suspect she had been sexually assaulted. She later underwent a medical examination at Ben Taub Hospital to investigate her concerns.
An autopsy revealed that Jade Youngblood died from a combination of ethanol, alprazolam (commonly known as Xanax), and fentanyl.
Will Kimball, acting special agent in charge at DEA Houston, called the case disturbing. “The facts of this investigation are appalling because the suspect is not a stranger, but rather the victim’s father,” Kimball said. “On Thanksgiving Day, a day where most families get together to give thanks, Youngblood had other plans.”
The case falls under a recent change to Texas law.
On September 1, 2023, the state added the offense of “fentanyl murder” to Section 19.02(b) of the Texas Penal Code.
Previously, murder charges could only be filed for knowingly or intentionally causing death, causing serious bodily injury resulting in death, or during the commission of a felony. Under the new law, a person can be charged with murder if they deliver or manufacture fentanyl (or other specified drugs) and a user dies as a result.
Youngblood is only the eighth person in Harris County to be prosecuted under this new statute.
First Assistant District Attorney for Harris County Chandler Raine emphasized the law’s importance. “This is exactly why the legislature in 2023 gave us the amendment to 19.02(b) of the Texas Penal Code—to allow us to go after individuals and to charge them not with delivery causing death, but with murder when individuals make the knowing choice of delivering fentanyl.”
Youngblood denies all allegations, including having brought any drugs to the apartment. He claims he had warned his daughter about the dangers of Xanax use. He remains in custody on a $150,000 bond.
