In Tarrant County’s second fentanyl murder trial, jury finds defendant guilty
A jury in Tarrant County this week found that a person who sold fentanyl to a woman who overdosed in a north Arlington motel room is guilty of murder.
The panel on Wednesday assessed the punishment for 34-year-old Amanda Russell at seven years in prison. The jurors were instructed to considering sentences from five to 99 years, or life.
Ashley Garner, 33, was found dead on Nov. 3, 2023, at a Red Roof Inn. A Tarrant County pathologist concluded her death was caused by fentanyl toxicity. Arlington police detectives linked Russell to the sale of fentanyl.
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.
Russell is the second person in Tarrant County to go to trial under the law. In June, a jury found Jacob Lindsay guilty of murder and assessed his punishment at life in prison in the 2023 overdose in Fort Worth of Brandon Harrison.
The first person who was sentenced in Tarrant County under the law was Kaeden Farish, an Azle man who pleaded guilty in October 2024. Farish received a 19-year prison sentence.
In November 2019, Russell was placed on a three-year period of deferred adjudication probation in connection with her guilty plea to a methamphetamine possession offense. The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office has filed a petition that alleges Russell violated the conditions of her probation, and a hearing on the matter is scheduled on Friday.
