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California teen charged in 2020 fentanyl death of 12-year-old girl

A 16-year-old California teen accused of selling fentanyl to a 12-year-old girl who overdosed and died from the drug has been charged with murder, prosecutors said Tuesday.

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The boy, from San Jose, sold the drug to the girl on Nov. 14, 2020, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office stated in a news release. The girl died after consuming three-quarters of a single pill, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors have not identified the teen by name.

“After thousands of deaths, everyone should know that fentanyl is a deadly poison,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “Thanks to the San Jose Police Department, the Santa Clara County Specialized Enforcement Team, and our investigators, this child’s tragically short life may help save others.”

Rosen said the girl was the youngest person to die from a drug overdose in Santa Clara during 2020, The Sacramento Bee reported.

The girl, who was also not identified and was referred to as “Jane Doe” by prosecutors, bought the drug and was filmed by a group as she lined up the crushed pill for ingestion, the news release stated. The girl passed out after snorting the fentanyl and began snoring, which prosecutors said was “a telltale sign” of an overdose.

The girl was taken to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead, prosecutors said.

Investigators found screenshots of public service warnings over fentanyl overdoses in the suspect’s Google Photos account, KNTV-TV reported. The PSAs predated the girl’s death, Rosen said.

The teen is the second to be charged with murder in Santa Clara County after a fatal overdose, The Bee reported. A San Jose man who sold an opioid on Snapchat to an 18-year-old from Santa Clara in 2020 also faces a murder charge, prosecutors said.