Prosecutors petition court to charge teen as adult for opioid overdose death of teen girl
WEST ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Instead of relieving pain, these potent pills continue to inflict irreparable harm on Minnesota families.
"Pills nowadays are being laced with this deadly fentanyl," Dana Farley, drug overdose prevention supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Health, explained to WCCO. "People have to be aware that they won't know what they're getting when they buy something on the street, from the web, or even from a friend."
Farley's latest warning comes as Dakota County prosecutors on Monday confirmed new charges of third-degree murder against a 17-year-old boy, and petitioned the court to try him as an adult for his alleged role in the death of a 15-year-old girl who died from an opioid overdose.
Court documents say the two spoke via text message and met outside a Walgreens pharmacy in West St. Paul on the evening of April 20. The boy would text her again later that evening with a warning to "only take like less than a quarter" a pill.
The message, investigators report, was never received, nor was a check-in from the boy at 2:03 a.m. that read "they hitting?"
According to the criminal complaint, the girl's mother discovered her daughter facedown on her bed with a pill next to her; she would try to perform CPR on her until first responders arrived but to no avail. A subsequent toxicology report revealed fentanyl in the girl's blood.
"When you see these tragedies, unfortunately, this is the time to have a discussion with your loved ones," Farley added. "Unfortunately, the illicit drug market has come a long way from a kitchen chemist in their trailer. Pharmaceutical grade labs in Mexico and China are developing pills that look almost identical to what you might get at a pharmacy store. People cannot tell the difference between them."
Data from the Minnesota Department of Health shows fentanyl accounted for more than 90% of opioid-related overdoses. The MDH describes fentanyl as "a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine."
Earlier this month, officials reported 1,286 total overdose deaths recorded in 2021 - a 28% increase from 2020 and a 62% jump since 2019 - averaging more than three people dying every day from an overdose of any drug type.
"This increase in drug overdose deaths is alarming, but there are things we can do about it," said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm. "One important step is to expand programs that make it easier for people to access naloxone – a medication that can reverse overdoses and save lives."
Farley said MDH is also pushing the availability of Fentanyl test strips (FTS) that can identify the presence of fentanyl in drug samples before use, and are now legal for all Minnesota residents to carry and use.
To learn more about FTS and where you can access them for free in Minnesota, contact the MDH Drug Overdose Prevention Unit by email at health.drugodprev@state.mn.us.
