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A North Texas man is currently facing murder charges, about five months after a co-worker to whom he sold drugs died of an overdose.

Pedro Martinez, 31, of Lake Dallas, was charged with murder for allegedly selling cocaine laced with fentanyl to a co-worker, according to a Denton police news release.

On January 21, officers responded to the 500 block of Inman Street after receiving a report of an unconscious man, later identified as 26-year-old Dylan King.

King was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Tarrant County Coroner’s Office later determined that King died from a combination of cocaine and fentanyl poisoning.

During the ensuing investigation, investigators learned that King had obtained the drugs from his Martinez. Investigators interviewed Martinez at the Denton County Jail, where he was being held on other charges. He allegedly admitted to selling the drugs, which he knew contained fentanyl, to King.

On June 18, investigators obtained a warrant for Martinez’s arrest for murder. He remains held in the Denton County Jail on $250,000 bail.

Martinez was previously arrested in 2022 for possession of a controlled substance in Penalty Group 1. The penalty group includes substances such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin.

This is the fifth murder charge in Denton for fentanyl use after a new law came into effect in Texas last year that “makes trafficking in fentanyl resulting in death a murder offense,” the press release said.

In May, a 45-year-old woman was arrested in Denton for a fentanyl overdose that resulted in death, according to a news release from the city of Denton. Upon further investigation, Denton police determined that 45-year-old Ryan Michelle Warner had sold narcotics to the victim. The victim was later identified as 38-year-old Shaun Cross, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The incident occurred on March 25 when officers responded to a report of an unconscious person at a storage facility in the 1900 block of Briner Road. The Tarrant County Coroner’s Office determined that Cross died from fentanyl and methamphetamine poisoning.

On May 21, Denton police arrested Warner on a murder warrant in the 800 block of W. Hickory Street. Warner is being held in the Denton County Jail, and her bail is set at $500,000, according to jail records.

As of June 20, 5,157 drug-related crimes have been reported in Dallas this year, according to the City of Dallas’ Crime Analysis Dashboard.

With the Dallas City Council appropriating just $654 million for the police this fiscal year, the police department must make do with far less taxpayer money than law enforcement agencies in other high-crime jurisdictions such as Los Angeles and New York.

Meanwhile, the DPD remains understaffed, with about 3,000 uniformed officers, despite a previous city report that estimated it would have just under 4,000 officers.