Volusia sheriff: Teen charged with manslaughter in 17-year-old’s fentanyl-related death

By Pamela Comme

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    DELAND, Florida (WESH) — A 17-year-old teenager has been arrested after he allegedly sold drugs to another teen who tested positive for the presence of fentanyl.

According to the arrest report, the victim’s parents found the teenager dead in his bedroom. Detectives were able to look through his phone and eventually locate the suspect.

Allegedly, the suspect sold the 17-year-old victim a white powder that tested positive for the presence of fentanyl.

The sheriff says in one text message, the victim allegedly told the suspect that the last batch of drugs he sold him were potent, so to give him a ‘warning’ next time, but there was no next time.

The sheriff says the suspect was supplying Adderall, weed, and other drugs to students in DeLand High School.

“You know you killed that kid,” said Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood. “You know that. And what do you? You go back out and still sell. And the veracity of that statement. ‘Yo bro… That [expletive] was super strong. Warn me about that next time. I was high for 50 minutes.'”

The State Attorney’s Office is still investigating what happened. They say no formal charges have been filed. Because the suspect is a minor, we’re told he can’t be charged with first-degree murder for the death of this teenager, but he can be charged with manslaughter.

Sheriff Chitwood has been pushing to have Narcan on school campuses, but he says it’s up to district leaders to decide.

The district says they’ve had conversations in the past about Narcan. They add Volusia County middle and high school students currently have school resource officers and deputies on campus who are equipped with Narcan.

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