AUSTIN, Texas — A man has been charged with first-degree murder after selling fentanyl that led to a man’s death last year.
According to the Austin Police Department (APD), police responded to an urgent check welfare call in the 2800 block of West Anderson Lane just after 9 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2023. Police arrived and located a man, identified as 59-year-old Troy Cernosek, unconscious and not breathing.
Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) and Austin Fire Department (AFD) medics attempted to revive Cernosek, but he died on the scene. An autopsy conducted by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office revealed that Cernosek died from “toxic effects of fentanyl, methamphetamine and codeine.”
Through additional investigating, police discovered that Cernosek had bought fentanyl from then-34-year-old Christopher Michael McDermott.
According to an affidavit, Cernosek met McDermott at a McDonald’s on Burnet Road with the intention of buying fentanyl. Afterward, he walked over to his living quarters on Anderson Lane, where he and another man smoked the fentanyl. A witness who had befriended Cernosek said she was with him when he began smoking it, before walking away to a nearby store. When she returned, she noticed him on the ground in a comatose state and began performing CPR. When he remained unresponsive, she ran to a nearby Whataburger to call 911.
Police interviewed a man who had smoked the fentanyl with Cernosek. The man said he took one “hit” off a piece of tinfoil, which was later found near Cernosek’s body, before leaving the scene.
Surveillance video from the McDonald’s taken earlier in the day showed the apparent fentanyl transaction between McDermott and Cernosek. Detectives then surveyed the area and discovered a transient camp on the side of a building in the 8000 block of Burnet Road. McDermott was identified by a business owner in the area as someone who lived at the encampment.
McDermott and a woman believed to be his girlfriend were arrested on Sept. 13, 2023, and charged with criminal trespass, but neither were charged in Cernosek’s death. McDermott posted bail, and was not held in jail.
Last month, a warrant was issued for McDermott’s arrest in connection with Cernosek’s death. On Dec. 2, police were surveying the area and located him near a Chevron in the 1700 block of Anderson Lane, where he was arrested on two separate warrants over theft charges.
McDermott initially told police he didn’t recall selling narcotics, but later admitted to selling $5 quantities. He then told police that he had known Cernosek and that he knew he had died. He also admitted to selling Cernosek the fentanyl that led to his death, which led to McDermott being charged with first-degree murder.