TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — The Travis County Sheriff’s Office has issued its first fentanyl-related murder warrant.
TCSO said deputies arrested 21-year-old Noe Arrellano-Perez on unrelated charges back in September, but after a monthslong investigation, detectives said he was responsible for providing drugs laced with fentanyl, which killed 22-year-old Raymundo Silva Jr. last year.
Arrellano-Perez is currently in TCSO’s custody on a murder charge. TCSO said it could not comment any more on the case until it goes to trial.
Last legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 6, which upgrades the charges to murder for providing fentanyl that results in a death. The law also requires that death certificates specify fentanyl toxicity or fentanyl poisoning as the cause of death, instead of an overdose.
Gov. Greg Abbott also signed three other bills related to combating the fentanyl crisis into law last session. House Bill 3144 establishes October as Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month. Senate Bill 867 would allow narcotic overdose reversal medicine called Narcan to be distributed to colleges and universities in the state.
House Bill 3908, which has also become known as “Tucker’s Law,” was named after Stefanie Roe’s 19-year-old son who died from fentanyl poisoning back in 2021. The law requires Texas public schools to provide education on fentanyl abuse prevention.
Since her son passed away, Roe created Texans Against Fentanyl and has been working passionately to get law enforcement to take fentanyl poisonings more seriously.
“I use this analogy of someone might get in a fistfight, but they’re not going to pull out a gun and shoot someone because they don’t want to be charged with murder,” Roe said. “I’m hoping that the consequences do discourage people from selling.”
According to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services, fentanyl poisoning-related deaths had an 18.5% decrease from 2023-2024. From Aug. 1, 2023, to July 31, 2024, there were 1,925 fentanyl poisoning-related deaths across the state.
House Bill 6 went into effect on Sept. 1, 2023, and Roe is hopeful it had something to do with this decrease.
“We don’t let people run around and continue to kill others, and that’s what happens with fentanyl dealers, so it’s important that we let people know that selling fentanyl can land you in some really significant trouble,” Roe said.
Though Roe is relieved to see a decrease, she said there is still much work to be done to stop the fentanyl crisis in the nation.
“When we’re looking at the death rate, it’s unfortunate to know that so many people are losing their life when there’s money to support it,” Roe said. “It doesn’t really feel like a win. It still feels like we’re losing. We’re still losing on record rates.”
Angel mothers with Texans Against Fentanyl, including Roe, all testified in front of state lawmakers at the Capitol on Tuesday. They’re asking lawmakers for more bills that will help prevent fentanyl-related deaths and to prioritize more money for existing resources like the education programs in Texas public schools.
The fentanyl curriculum that Texans Against Fentanyl created, The Tucker Project, has been implemented in different states across the nation, including a pilot program currently with the Texas Education Agency this spring for middle schools in Texas.
Because House Bill 3908 was an unfunded mandate, they’re asking lawmakers to prioritize funding to make sure these programs can be provided to all sixth through eighth graders across the state.