INDIANAPOLIS — Forty-five-year-old Rashaan Williams was charged Monday with a felony of dealing a controlled substance resulting in death after he allegedly supplied fentanyl to Shylis Garrett during a drug deal in July.
Police said the morning after the drug deal, Garrett was found dead inside a home at the Chateau in the Woods apartments on the northeast side of Indianapolis.
The probable cause affidavit says Garrett was pronounced dead July 14. The night before, she allegedly reached out to Williams to buy Xanax and Adderall.
Court documents show the cause of death was a combined intoxication of clonazepam, acefentanyl, bromazolam, fentanyl and cocaine.
"When you have the devastation of these drug poisonings occurring all over the country, our job is to go out and hold those people who are doing it accountable. I think in this investigation, that's exactly what we did," said Michael Gannon, assistant special agent in charge with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The DEA said its investigation into Williams began in October. He was arrested Friday, Jan. 26.
"The person thought they were taking Adderall and Xanax. They're not assuming that it's laced with fentanyl and other drugs, and it's devastating," Gannon said. "What ends up happening is somebody, in instances like this, has lost a family member, has lost a daughter, has lost a sister, a relative, a friend. So many lives are impacted because of this."
The DEA said this serves as a warning for people buying fake prescription pills off the street and those supplying them.
"Don't try to make that excuse that, 'Well, I didn't know that was in it,'" Gannon said. "We're telling you that the cartels and other drug traffickers are flooding our country with counterfeit pills laced with deadly drugs such as fentanyl."
Williams made his initial court appearance Tuesday and could face 20 to 40 years in prison if convicted. He is being held at the Marion County jail on a $200,000 bond.