18-year-old charged with murder in teenage girl's fentanyl overdose, Austin police say

An 18-year-old man was charged with murder in connection with the April fentanyl overdose of a 17-year-old girl, an Austin Police Department press release said Tuesday.

A Texas law passed last year allows steeper charges for fentanyl-related crimes, including the option to bring murder charges against those who are suspected of manufacturing or delivering fentanyl that results in death. The case announced Tuesday is among the first such cases in Travis County.

Authorities responded to a 911 call from the victim's father in the 1200 block of Knollpark Circle in North Austin at about 10:55 a.m. April 13, the release said. According to police, Sienna Rae Contreras' father told responding officers he had last seen his daughter alive the night before, and when he went to wake her in the morning, she was deceased in her bed, the release said. She was pronounced dead at 11:38 a.m. Investigators determined that Xavier Alexzander Buentello sold fentanyl to Contreras, causing her death hours later. The Austin Police Department charged Buentello with murder, under Texas Penal Code 19.02, which was enacted in September 2023.

Buentello has been at the Travis County Jail for several months, where he was held for other charges, the release said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin police charge 18-year-old with murder in teen's fentanyl death