Texas
Texas charges first fentanyl-related murder under new state law
Mother speaks on pain of losing a young son to fentanyl poisoning
A mother from El Paso copes with the grief of losing a son to fentanyl poisoning after he is found dead in a hotel room.
Omar Ornelas, El Paso Times
Eric Robles is officially the first ever individual indicted under stricter Texas state charges of murder and manufacture/delivery of fentanyl.
Texas House Bill 6, passed in 2023 in response to the rising number of fentanyl-related fatalities across the state, classifies the act of supplying fentanyl resulting in death as murder.
On April 23, 2025, approximately two weeks before completing his sentence on unrelated federal drug charges, Robles was transferred from the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to the custody of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
“The ability to bring the state charge of murder gives the DEA another tool in our belt,” said OmarArellano, special agent in charge of the DEA’s El Paso Division. “Drug dealers even considering setting up shop in Texas need to keep that in mind.”
The first charge of its kind in Texas
The case was the first time the 34th Judicial District Attorney’s office charged murder as it relates to the distribution of fentanyl resulting in a death.
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Fentanyl Overdose Response Team, or FORT, a West Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area initiative, investigated the case. FORT is staffed by DEA, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Department of Army Criminal Investigations Division, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas National Guard, and the El Paso Police Department.
“The indictment handed down in this case marks a historic and necessary step forward in the fight against the fentanyl epidemic that continues to devastate our community and families across Texas,” said El Paso County Sheriff Oscar Ugarte. “The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is proud to be part of the DEA’s Fentanyl Overdose Response Team and to work alongside our local, state, and federal partners to ensure drug traffickers are held fully accountable.Although this is the first FORT case indicted on Texas state charges, the DEA’s El Paso Division has had a total of 10 federally charged cases which resulted in the sentencing of 10 individuals for distribution causing death.
“We will not tolerate the distribution of fentanyl in our community—and we will continue using every legal tool available to bring justice for victims and their families. Our message is clear: if your actions result in death, you will be charged accordingly,” Ugarte said.
The 10 individuals received a combined 152 years in federal prison without parole.