PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland man faces federal charges after he sold drugs to a 15-year-old girl who overdosed and later died, according to the Portland Police Bureau and federal prosecutors.
Officers responded on Sept. 20 to a local hospital after someone reported the overdose, PPB said. An investigation found that the day prior, the 15-year-old had taken a counterfeit Oxycodone pill that turned out to be laced with fentanyl. She fell unconscious almost immediately.
A friend of the teen called 911 and performed CPR until paramedics arrived. The girl was in a coma by the time she arrived at the hospital, and she died four days later.
KGW previously reported on a 15-year-old student of Jefferson High School who died following a suspected fentanyl overdose on Sept. 19.
Detectives from PPB's Narcotics and Organized Crime unit worked with federal investigators to look into the case. They found that the 15-year-old had gotten the pills from a friend, who purchased them from a dealer near Northeast 42nd Avenue and Going Street.
According to a probable cause affidavit, two teenage friends of the victim were over at her apartment when the victim took what she told them was an "Oxy pill," despite a warning from one of the friends that it could be fake. That friend later told police that after 10-15 minutes the victim closed her eyes, and the friend subsequently called 911 after noticing that the victim's lips were turning purple and she had no detectable pulse.
Detectives later spoke to the other friend, according to the affidavit, who admitted that he set up the transaction with the dealer. The affidavit includes a transcript of a text message conversation between the teen and the dealer in which they agree on a price and then the teen sends an address. Several hours later, a text from the teen says a friend had overdosed on the "oxy," to which the dealer replies "Bro, I didn't sell you oxy, why you hitting me."
The dealer was identified by investigators as 20-year-old Nasir "Noni" Overton of Portland, according to PPB. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon said that Overton is charged with one count each of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, resulting in death, and distributing and possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl, resulting in death.
"One pill can kill — one pill did kill," federal prosecutors wrote in a motion for pretrial detention. "The defendant sold two counterfeit M30 pills manufactured with fentanyl to two 15-year-old girls — each of the girls used a pill and one of them died."
Overton was taken into custody Thursday evening and his home was searched. Investigators found photos of M30 pills on his phone and text messages indicating he was selling drugs, according to the motion. When interviewed by investigators, he admitted to going to homeless camps around Delta Park and purchasing small amounts of counterfeit M30 pills to both use and sell, and at one point told detectives "I'm sorry — it's all my ****in' fault."
Overton made his first appearance in federal court on Friday, and a U.S. Magistrate Judge ordered him detained pending further proceedings. If convicted, Overton faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
According to PPB, the agency's narcotics unit has learned of 277 deadly overdoses since the start of the year, a 75% increase over 2022. Nine of those deadly overdoses involved juveniles, and three more juveniles have overdosed this year and survived.
"Getting a handle on the fentanyl epidemic has been and will continue to be a priority for PPB," the agency said in a statement.
The agency noted that those numbers only represent the cases that have been reported to PPB, and they all remain "suspected" overdoses until confirmed by the county medical examiner's office.