MCSO: Boyfriend arrested after fentanyl death of Mobile teen
MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) — A 15-year-old girl in Semmes is believed to have died after taking a drug laced with fentanyl, according to the Mobile County Sheriff's Office.
Adrianna Danielle Taylor was found deceased in a home Wednesday, Aug. 31, the MCSO said. Through the investigation, the Sheriff's Office determined that the boyfriend of the 15-year-old gave her the pills knowing they were laced with fentanyl.
According to Taylor's obituary, she attendedMary G. Montgomery High School and Azalea City Christian Church.
The 17-year-old boyfriend was taken to Mobile Metro Jail a week later on Wednesday, Sept. 7. Officials said he was initially taken to the Strickland Youth Center for having a pistol with no permit. Now, he's being charged with manslaughter and distributing a controlled substance as an adult, according to the MCSO.
Officials said they're aggressively pursuing this case.
"We want to get the word that if you're dealing with anything that may have fentanyl in it, we're coming for you," MCSO Deputy Chief Paul Burch said.
Burch said federal partners are on board with this, ensuring that those committing these offenses will serve a significant amount of time.
"I think it's safe to say he had been distributing," Burch said about the 17-year-old boy. "You know, it's still early on to determine his exact involvement, where he is in the distribution of this, hierarchy of the distribution of this substance, but we'll get to where we want to get."
Taylor's death is now causing local activists to sound the alarm even more.
"We are seeing these type of instances increase at alarming rates," Drug Education Council Executive Director Virginia Guy said. "We want all parents, grandparents, educators, anybody talking to young people that is so dangerous to take anything that they have gotten from somebody else."
The Sheriff's Office is now waiting on the official toxicology report to come back to learn exactly what drug Taylor took.
"If we were able to link other overdoses back to him, and he could face those charges as well," Burch said. "There are several cases we are going back to look at before fentanyl became such a dominant item on the market now."
