A man has pleaded guilty to murder for facilitating a fentanyl overdose, making it the first time Tarrant County has prosecuted someone under the new Texas law.
On Thursday, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office announced that Kaeden Farish, 19, pled guilty to murder and was sentenced to 19 years in prison for selling fentanyl-laced pills to a 17-year-old who overdosed and died.
Farish’s conviction marks the first time Tarrant County has charged an individual with murder if they make or deal fentanyl that results in a death.
“We are working hard to get the people who sell this poison off the streets,” said Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells.
Fentanyl is considered an extremely deadly drug that can be made in many forms, including powder, pills, nasal sprays, and even eye drops. Two milligrams of the drug is equivalent to a few grains of table salt and is highly lethal.
In June 2023, Gov. Greg Abbott signed four pieces of legislation, including House Bill 6, to combat the fentanyl crisis taking place in Texas. The law creates a criminal offense of murder for supplying fentanyl that results in death. It also enhances the criminal penalty for the manufacture or delivery of fentanyl.
Shortly after the law was signed, Sorrells created a Narcotics Unit, focusing on cases that involve deadly narcotics like fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine.
“We are holding people accountable in Tarrant County,” Sorrells said. “We are doing everything we can to keep our community safe.”
“We will continue to go after those who seek to profit from this deadly drug. You make it or deal it to someone who dies, we’ll charge you with murder,” he continued.
At least one other murder charge is pending in Tarrant County for the same offense. Jacob Lindsay, 47, is facing charges after he allegedly gave Brandon Harrison, 26, a dose of fentanyl leading to his death.
Abbott recently highlighted new data published by the Texas Department of State Health Services that shows a nearly 20-percent decrease in fentanyl-related deaths over the past year.
According to the data, more than 1,900 Texans died due to fentanyl poisonings from August 2023 to July 2024, as compared to more than 2,360 in the previous 12 months.
“From directing state agencies to ramp up their anti-fentanyl efforts, to passing and signing critical laws to curb the fentanyl epidemic, to launching a multimedia campaign that garnered over 1.5 billion impressions, to partnering with college football coaches to raise awareness at high school football games, our statewide efforts have helped decrease fentanyl poisoning deaths of Texans this past year. And thanks to the people across our great state joining us in this fight and having open conversations with their loved ones about this deadly drug, we are saving lives,” wrote Abbott.
“Texas will continue to combat this nationwide crisis to protect more innocent lives from being lost to the scourge of fentanyl,” he added.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl at the southwest border in the 2024 federal fiscal year.
