AUSTIN, Texas — A man has been charged with murder in Williamson County in connection with a deadly fentanyl overdose.
On Thursday, March 21, U.S. Marshals and the Cedar Park Police Department arrested Kreli Haynes on a warrant from the Williamson County Sheriff's Office. He is accused of supplying fentanyl to a 16-year-old male who overdosed and died in December.
According to the sheriff's office, deputies from the Williamson County Sheriff's Office Organized Crime Unit were dispatched to the 2500 block of Socorro Bend in Leander on Dec. 16, where they located the 16-year-old.
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Investigators eventually linked Haynes to the alleged sale of the fentanyl. When he was arrested on March 21, an affidavit obtained by KVUE states he had a backpack in his possession that contained fentanyl pills, marijuana, cocaine, THC vape cartridges, other pills and drug paraphernalia, and a handgun with the serial number scratched off. Haynes admitted to police that the contents of the backpack were his.
When police told Haynes he had been linked to the delivery of counterfeit Percocet that contained fentanyl and that caused the overdose death of a 16-year-old, Haynes said he didn't murder anyone, but he did hear about a 16-year-old's death. Haynes said he thought he knew who it was, telling police that he knew the person by a nickname and that he used to go to school with him. The affidavit confirms the nickname Haynes provided was that of the 16-year-old who died.
In addition to the murder charge, Haynes also faces charges of possessing a Schedule I controlled substance and unlawful carry.
Haynes remains in Williamson County Jail on bonds totaling more than $1.2 million.