HAYS COUNTY, Texas — The death of a 15-year-old in Hays County is being investigated as a possible fentanyl related death.
In a letter to parents and staff, Hays Consolidated ISD Superintendent Eric Wright reported that the death from earlier in the week was being investigated as a fentanyl overdose.
"It is our continuing worst fear – to lose another student from a danger that remains present in our district and across the country. We have previously lost six students to this evil since the summer of 2022," Wright wrote in the letter.
The student died at home, but for the past year, Hays CISD has been taking an active role in informing people in the district of the dangers of fentanyl.
"I was angry and frustrated and my day was very, very dark that day," Janel Rodriguez, founder of the Forever 15 Project said about hearing the news.
Rodriguez started the Forever 15 Project to warn young people of the risks of fentanyl after an overdose took the life of her son Noel. His was one of three student deaths that prompted Hays CISD to actively combat the fentanyl crisis.
She said the experience taught her that fentanyl does not discriminate; that it’s just as likely to impact a families like hers as it any stereotypical ‘addict’ from the ‘wrong side of the tracks.’
"I know like, my son was not a drug addict,” Rodriguez said. “And I'm now in this boat with so many other families who are similar to ours."
She says fentanyl can be found in counterfeit versions of drugs like Adderall, Xanax, or Percocet, which treat ADHD, anxiety and pain respectively. But, she said, it doesn’t matter what effect someone is after if the counterfeit contains a lethal dose of fentanyl. A story about a college student stuck with her in particular.
“There was a young man who just wanted to stay up and be able to study,” Rodriguez said. “And he purchased an Adderall, and he passed away.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug with FDA approval that is sometimes used to treat pain after surgery or to treat patients with chronic severe pain. The DEA lists it as a Schedule II controlled substance. It is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.
The DEA warns that drug counterfeiters can make fake pills that look identical to the ones someone might get from a pharmacy, so it’s possible someone may take a pill without knowing it contains fentanyl. In a clinical setting fentanyl is evenly distributed within a pill, but Rodriguez said that because of how counterfeits are made, different pills within the same batch can have either harmless or fatal doses. She uses mousetrap as an analogy.
"A mouse and go get that cheese from that mouse trap and the first time he goes, He's fine. He's able to get it. The second time he goes, he's able to get it,” said Rodriguez. “But that third time, you know, he thinks he's going to be able to get it. And it gets him, right? He's dead."
According to the DEA, 7 out of every 10 pills they seized and tested in a laboratory contain a lethal dose of fentanyl.
Hays CISD offers information and resources to combat the fentanyl crisis. They have partnerships with a number of organizations like the Forever 15 Project.
“Just don't be naive to think that it cannot happen to your family," Rodriguez said.