Suspected fentanyl dealer accused of killing someone arrested
AUSTIN, Texas - Investigators arrested a suspected car thief who turned out to be a suspected fentanyl dealer earlier this month.
On New Year’s Day, a woman said she had just arrived for her shift at a grocery store in Southeast Austin when a man went up to her with a bag that seemed to have a gun inside and the man’s hand seemed to be on the gun. The woman said the suspect demanded her car keys and she was scared for her life, so she gave them to him and he took off.
That evening, the vehicle was found in Kyle near where 20-year-old Jose Alexander Cruz lives. He matched the description of the suspect from the robbery that morning. Hays County Sheriff’s Deputies said he looked familiar. They had been watching him for a while.
In Jan 2022, a 20-year-old was found dead in Travis County. The cause was fentanyl poisoning.
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"It’s a similar story and a similar story to so many lives across the state of Texas," Texas Against Fentanyl founder Stefanie Turner said.
Turner’s son, 19-year-old Tucker, died from fentanyl poisoning in September 2021. She’s made it her mission to educate others about the dangers of this poison.
"Through education, we can empower parents and students to make better decisions and not find themselves in that situation of addiction," Turner said.
"We’re trying to get into the high schools and tell people hey, this is serious, and this is dangerous," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Marshall said.
Marshall is the deterrent and prosecutes dealers.
"If I can prove the pill they sold somebody killed them, they’re going to go to the federal penitentiary," Marshall said.
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Cruz now faces prison time as the messages between he and the victim revealed Cruz was the one who sold the 20-year-old the drugs with fentanyl in them that killed him.
"We can find them," Marshall said.
Working together, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, Austin PD, and San Marcos PD found Cruz and arrested him on seven different felonies.
"There are people losing their lives to fentanyl poisoning but there’s also those who are losing their lives to incarceration as a result of dealing this poison," Turner said.
She said unfortunately, fentanyl is still out there.
"One dealer is just one dealer and there are plenty more that will fill that gap and that does not stop the supply of drugs," Turner said.
Travis County is leading the state in fentanyl overdoses.