Texas Uses New Fentanyl Law to Charge Hutto Woman With Murder

Texas authorities have arrested 26-year-old Crystal Perez and charged her with murder for allegedly selling fentanyl that caused the October 6, 2024 death of 30-year-old Michael Ackerman in Hutto, a suburb north of Austin. Perez was booked into the Williamson County Jail on June 25 and is being held on a $1 million bond, the sheriff’s office said. Investigators said a bag containing a white, rock-like substance that later tested positive for fentanyl was found beside Ackerman’s body. Phone messages, CashApp payments and ride-share records allegedly show Perez and Ackerman negotiating drug purchases and meeting near her home in the two days before his death. Perez is the 10th person arrested by the county’s Organized Crime Unit under House Bill 6, the 2023 Texas law that allows prosecutors to file murder charges against anyone who manufactures or distributes fentanyl resulting in death. Local officials said the case underscores their broader effort to treat overdose fatalities as homicides amid a surge in synthetic-opioid deaths.