19-year-old charged in connection with fentanyl death in Weatherford, police say
A 19-year-old man wanted in connection with a recent fentanyl-related death in Weatherford turned himself in to the authorities on Sunday, police said.
Colby Reeder-Knotts, of Weatherford, is facing a charge of manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance resulting in death or serious bodily injury, Weatherford police announced in a news release. He was booked into Parker County Jail on Sunday with a combined $50,000 in surety bonds, jail records show.
He was released the same day, records show.
Police didn’t say in the release whose death the department is connecting to Reeder-Knotts. Sgt. John Rudolph, a police spokesman, didn’t immediately respond to an email on Tuesday with questions about this investigation and fentanyl-related deaths in Weatherford over the past year.
The synthetic opioid that’s 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine led to at least two deaths in Weatherford in November 2020, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. Alyssa Baltzell, a 19-year-old from Springtown, and Ethan Hathaway, a 19-year-old from Weatherford, died in the city with fentanyl-related causes, records show. Both deaths were classified as accidents.
Baltzell died of toxic effects of fentanyl, according to the medical examiner. Hathaway, officials reported, died of “acute fentanyl intoxication” with aspiration.
Detectives were able to obtain an arrest warrant for Reeder-Knotts in connection to what police described as “an ongoing investigation of a recent fentanyl-related death.” Reeder-Knotts turned himself in at the Weatherford Police Department around 5:20 a.m. Sunday.
Though an arrest has been made, police said, the investigation remains active and ongoing.
Police said in the release no other information will be released at this time.
