Girlfriend arrested on murder in Grapevine fentanyl death of fired juvenile court judge
A woman who police allege had a source of fentanyl pills in Fort Worth and brought the synthetic opioid to her boyfriend, a former judge in Tarrant County, was arrested this week on suspicion of murder in connection with his overdose death in Grapevine in November.
Kami Ludwig, 34, was booked on Monday in the killing of William Shane Nolen, who was a former associate judge in the 323rd District Court. Nolen was in November 2019 fired from the court, which handles juvenile matters, because, as a defendant in a lawsuit filed in Denton County by the Department of Family and Protective Services, he violated court orders.
Ludwig purchased fentanyl-laced pills and supplied them to Nolen, Grapevine police alleged in a case built in part upon Ludwig’s cellphone records that a detective reviewed under a search warrant. Ludwig turned herself in to Tarrant County authorities and was released on a bond.
In the master bedroom of his house in the 4100 block of Mapleridge Drive, Nolen died in bed with white foam around his nose and mouth, Grapevine police said. Ludwig reported the overdose to police about 4:45 a.m. on Nov. 20.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded the cause of Nolen’s death was mixed drug toxicity. The office identified the drugs as fentanyl and the antidepressant trazodone. Nolen was 47.
A blue, M-30 fentanyl-laced pill was on stairs leading to the second floor and pills believed to be Xanax were strewn about on the floor adjacent to the bed in which Nolen’s body was found, according to the affidavit supporting the arrest warrant in the case. Next to Ludwig’s purse on the vanity in the master bathroom was a cut straw, powder residue, a small plastic bag of a substance believed to be cocaine and other plastic baggies holding pills that resembled M-30s, according to the affidavit.
Nolen’s 9-year-old son was alone inside the house when authorities arrived.
A state law that went into effect last year makes a person who knowingly distributes fentanyl to someone who dies from exposure to the synthetic opioid eligible for prosecution on murder.
Grapevine police said they recovered from the former judge’s house .614 grams of cocaine, 4.08 grams of fentanyl, .348 grams of oxycodone and 7.7 grams of generic Xanax.
Ludwig is represented by defense attorney Tiffany Burks.
“Any fentanyl-related death is a tragedy, and our condolences go out to the friends and family affected by the sudden loss of former judge Shane Nolen,” Burks wrote in a statement. “Fentanyl murder is a serious accusation, and judgment should be withheld until all the facts and circumstances are known. We proudly defend Kami as she, too, struggles with the loss of a beloved friend.”
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct determined in 2022 that Nolen should be publicly admonished for failing to cooperate with the commission’s investigation of two complaints.
Beyond the court order violation in the Denton County matter, the commission initiated an investigation of conduct that was described in a report published by the Star-Telegram. Nolen participated in an after-hours poker party in chambers at the Tarrant County Juvenile Justice Center in violation of county and city ordinances and policies.
Nolen, state District Judge Alex Kim and four others spent an evening in August 2019 at the courthouse, according to security employee records and surveillance video obtained by the Star-Telegram.
The judicial conduct commission reported Nolen responded to its initial inquiry letter. The response was incomplete, “apparently because of a fax machine malfunction,” the commission wrote.
Staff asked Nolen to resend his response. He did not.
This story was originally published February 13, 2024 at 3:21 PM.
