A 35-year-old Houston man is charged with murder in connection with the death of a Magnolia man who died of a fentanyl overdose. Authorities say it’s the first arrest in Montgomery County under a new state law allowing murder charges for people who provide a fatal dose of the drug to another person.
James Carter-Smith Jr., 35, is being held in the Montgomery County Jail with no bond. His next court appearance is 1:30 p.m. Nov. 28 in the 221st state District Court.
According to information from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, members of the Montgomery County Narcotics Enforcement Team responded to a home on Magnolia Reserve Loop off FM 149 for the investigation of a 34-year-old man found deceased. Autopsy results confirmed the man died of a fentanyl overdose. The victim’s name has not been released.
Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said the law is critical in the fight to stop fentanyl deaths.
Prior to the new legislation, “we were unable to punish people who were involved in the chain of the murder,” Ligon said. He said he believes the community wants to see stiffer penalties for the illegal distribution of fentanyl.
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The Enforcement Team, called MOCONET, is a Houston High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force that includes the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Walker County Sheriff’s Office, Walker County District Attorney’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and Texas Department of Public Safety.
Investigators identified Carter-Smith as the person who allegedly provided the fentanyl to the man, Sheriff’s Office Specialist Caleb Cole stated in a news release,
Several other agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office assisted with the investigation.
“The level of impact and devastation that fentanyl has had on our community and our nation is unacceptable,” said Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson.
In 2019, MOCONET, along with Houston High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, began working to address the trafficking of fentanyl and overdose deaths in Montgomery County. As of Sept. 1, House Bill 6 went into effect. That bill established a person can be charged with murder if they supply or distribute fentanyl and it leads to death, classifying the death as “poisoning.”
In May 2022, Montgomery County Director of Montgomery County Forensic Services Dr. Kathryn Pinneri said fentanyl deaths are highest in young adults between ages 14 and 23 nationwide. In September that same year, officials reported those deaths had increased by 433 percent.
Harris County led the state in overall fentanyl-related deaths, with 93 from January through the end of June this year, according to preliminary state data.
While the Houston region led in total numbers of deaths from the drug, it didn’t have the highest rate of deaths per population, according to the data. Harris County had around 1.73 fentanyl deaths per 100,000 people, compared with the state’s leader, Travis County, which had around 5.04 fentanyl deaths per 100,000 people.
