A 45-year-old woman from Denton is facing a murder charge following an investigation by the Denton Police Department into a fatal fentanyl overdose.
On March 25, officers responded to a report of an unconscious person inside an encampment in the 1900 block of Brinker Road. The victim, identified as 38-year-old Shaun Cross, was declared deceased at the scene.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Cross's cause of death was fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity. During the investigation, detectives found evidence linking 45-year-old Ryan Michelle Warner to the sale of narcotics containing fentanyl to the victim before his death.
On Tuesday, May 21, Denton PD arrested Warner on a murder warrant in the 800 block of W. Hickory Street. She is currently in the City of Denton Jail, with bail yet to be set.
This marks the fourth fentanyl-related murder arrest in Denton since a new state law came into effect on Sept. 1, 2023. The law establishes murder charges for supplying fentanyl that leads to death.
