by Two Texas high school seniors who were discovered dead this month had fentanyl in their system, according to a toxicology report, and a 19-year-old suspect was arrested and charged with allegedly supplying drugs to teens, the Texas Sheriff’s Office Montgomery County (MCSO) has announced.
A toxicology report revealed Grant Blodgett, 17, and Irene Sunderland, 18, had fentanyl in their systems when they were found dead at a residence on Stanwick Place in The Woodlands on May 5, the MCSO said in a statement. release. Prior to the autopsies, MCSO believed their deaths were the result of overdoses, the statement said.
An investigation led to the arrest of 19-year-old Abdulbaaith Abiodun Adewale on “two counts of manufacturing or delivering controlled substances causing death or serious bodily injury,” according to the statement. Online inmate records show he was booked on May 12 and is being held on $150,000 bond.
An arrest warrant said Blodgett and Sunderland, who attended Woodlands High School and were in a romantic relationship together, were discovered dead by Sunderland’s mother in a bedroom where drugs were found, KHOU reported. According to the document, the Sunderland mother intended to take her daughter to rehab that day, as both teenagers had struggled with drug addiction for years.
“Definitely shocking there for a minute. I thought, wow, this is crazy,” a student who knew the victims told KHOU.
In the warrant, authorities claimed that evidence obtained from the victims’ cellphones led them to Adewale, according to KHOU. He allegedly sent text messages saying that the same heroine killed someone else.
“Investigators believe Adewale knew the drugs he gave them ‘could and probably would kill them,'” the outlet noted.
Woodland High School graduate Hayden Cloud took a history class with Adewale during their first year together and said the defendant “was a good kid.”
“It’s crazy how someone’s life can change so quickly,” Cloud continued.
The victims’ classmates will graduate on May 23, according to the Woodlands High School website. Sunderland’s obituary states that she planned to attend Drexler University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to study fashion merchandising, while Blodgett’s said that “I planned to attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX” to study history.
In the statement, Sheriff Rand Henderson emphasized that Adewale’s arrest is “an example of the recent law passed by the Texas Legislature that allows us to prosecute those who provide illegal narcotics that cause the death of our citizens.”
“Let this be a warning to those who sell illicit narcotics: Montgomery County law enforcement is committed to finding you and holding you accountable not only for the sale of illicit narcotics but also for the deaths that occur,” he added.
