WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas — Williamson County deputies have arrested two people in connection with a Georgetown High School student’s fentanyl "poisoning" in January, according to a release from the county.
The family of Layton Ivins told KVUE the arrests are tied to the 16-year-old’s death on Jan. 22. He was a sophomore at Georgetown High School.
KVUE spoke with his father in March, and he described his son as smart, talented and full of positivity. But he said medics and police see cases like Layton Ivins’ far too often.
"Just the people who were on the scene knew what it was. I mean law enforcement deals with this so much, it's almost – they show up, they know what's going on," Cody Ivins said.
The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to KVUE that the two people arrested were juveniles.
In the wake of Layton Ivins' death, Georgetown ISD partnered with the sheriff’s office to promote fentanyl awareness in middle and high schools.
Gov. Greg Abbott made tackling the fentanyl crisis a priority of the Texas Legislature this year, and one of the ways lawmakers have looked at doing that is through stricter criminal penalties for anyone caught distributing fentanyl.
Senate Bill 645 would classify a fentanyl overdose as a poisoning, so prosecutors would be able to charge anyone who makes, sells or distributes the drug with murder.
That bill passed through the Texas Senate last month, but it hasn’t come up for discussion in a House committee just yet.