Separate fentanyl deaths in Denton lead to charges against two men, police say
One suspect was arrested and another indicted Tuesday, Nov. 19 in separate fentanyl-related deaths in Denton County, authorities said.
Denton police arrested King Killebrew-Stephens, 27, from Fort Worth on a murder charge, after investigating a fatal fentanyl overdose of 25-year-old Tyler Blevins-Stafford on July 25.
Police responded to a call in the 1100 block of N. Bell Avenue in Denton where Blevins-Stafford was found unconscious. He was transported to a hospital, where he later died due to fentanyl poisoning, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Evidence showed that Killebrew-Stephens sold fentanyl pills to Blevins-Stafford before he died, police investigators said.
Killebrew-Stephens was arrested by police with the help of the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force in the 4000 block of Norma Lane in Fort Worth. He is in the Denton jail with bail not yet set, police said in a news release.
Also on Tuesday, a Lewisville man was indicted in a separate fatal fentanyl overdose case.
Anthony Nguyen, 35, was indicted by a Denton County Grand Jury in the fatal fentanyl poisoning of John Zepka, 55, police said.
Denton police responded to a call at an apartment in the 6300 block of Shady Shores Road in Denton on July 30, where they discovered Zepka in an unconscious state. Zepka was transported to a local hospital where he later died.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Zepka’s cause of death as multi-drug toxicity, including methamphetamine, fentanyl and bromazolam, which is often mixed with fentanyl.
Police said Nguyen sold pills containing fentanyl to Zepka prior to his death.
Nguyen was served a arrest warrant on the murder charge at the Denton County Jail, where he has been in custody since Aug. 3 for unrelated charges, police said. His bond has been set for $1 million.
These two cases mark the third and fourth arrest this year in Denton, since a new state law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2023, that created a criminal offense of murder for supplying fentanyl that results in death, police said.