DALLAS — Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot announced the conviction and sentencing of a drug dealer in what prosecutors say is the first Dallas County case brought under Texas' fentanyl murder statute.
On June 8, 2026, 31-year-old Destin Jawuan Scott pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for supplying narcotics that led to a woman's fatal overdose. The woman was 24-year-old Morgan Alexandria Peterson of Grand Prairie.
The investigation began after a woman was found dead inside her vehicle outside a fast-food restaurant. Authorities initially found no obvious signs of foul play.
Dallas Police Department Overdose Unit Detective Jacob White responded to the scene and recovered two cell phones and a bag of pills from the vehicle. An autopsy later determined the woman died from the toxic effects of MDMA and fentanyl.
Investigators conducted an extensive digital investigation using information extracted from the victim's phones, social media communications and call detail records. The evidence led authorities to Scott, who investigators identified as the individual who supplied the drugs.
According to prosecutors, investigators determined the victim purchased fentanyl and MDMA from Scott the day before her death.
The prosecution was made possible under Texas House Bill 6, which took effect Sept. 1, 2023. The law reclassified fentanyl-related overdose deaths as poisonings and created the offense of fentanyl murder, allowing drug distributors to be charged with homicide when fentanyl they provide causes a death.
Under the law, prosecutors must prove that a defendant knowingly distributed fentanyl to a victim, that the fentanyl directly caused the victim's death, and that the defendant knew the substance was fentanyl while disregarding its potentially lethal consequences.
Creuzot's office credited the Dallas Police Department for its investigation and thanked Assistant District Attorney Sarah Beth DeLay for prosecuting the case.
Additional assistance was provided by District Attorney's Office investigators Bonita Morgan, Eddie Lopez and Tom Naulty, as well as Digital Intelligence Analyst Greg Gambrell.
The conviction marks the first successful Dallas County prosecution under the state's fentanyl murder law since its enactment in 2023.
