A St. Louis man is facing a federal drug charge after he reportedly provided fentanyl to an Arnold teenager and then left her in a car outside an Arnold store where she was later found dead from an alleged overdose, according to the criminal complaint in the case.
William Edward Martin, 21, was charged Tuesday, July 5, in the U.S. District Court of Missouri in St. Louis with one count of distributing a controlled substance, said Robert Patrick, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri-St. Louis.
Martin waived his right to a detention hearing, meaning he will be held in jail pending resolution of the case, Patrick said.
Authorities have not released the name of the 19-year-old who reportedly got the fentanyl from Martin and died after using it. The teen allegedly had previously been in a relationship with Martin, court papers said.
When the teen did not return home after allegedly meeting with Martin, her father began searching for her and found her body early June 24 in her car parked outside the Walgreens, 3937 Vogel Road, in Arnold. According to the Arnold Police and criminal complaint, the teen was found alone inside a 2006 Chevrolet Impala and was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel.
The charging documents state that video surveillance showed Martin and the victim meet in the parking lot on June 23, each driving a different car. The victim reportedly got out of the Impala she drove there and got into the BMW Martin arrived in. A short time later, Martin allegedly could be seen dragging the victim from the BMW, putting her in the backseat of the Impala and then driving away.
“It was clear from the surveillance footage that (the victim) was incapacitated and in medical distress,” the report said.
Investigators learned from St. Louis County Police that Martin already was wanted for first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon stemming from an incident a few days earlier when he allegedly shot his roommate, wounding him. After he was charged in that case, he allegedly fled from area police who were trying to arrest him several times, the report said.
On June 29, Arnold Police located the BMW Martin was known to drive. At the time he was driving the car, and his current girlfriend was a passenger, and when Arnold Police tried to stop Martin, he allegedly fled, according to the report.
A short time later, though, police spotted the car again, and at that point the girlfriend was driving it and Martin no longer was inside. The woman allegedly told police she had dropped off Martin at a Circle K gas station in Arnold, and she gave police consent to search the car, the report said.
Officers found a safe inside the car, and the girlfriend reportedly said the safe belonged to Martin. Police allegedly found fentanyl, LSD, mushrooms, controlled pharmaceuticals and drug paraphernalia and other drug-related items in the safe.
While police were interviewing the girlfriend, she reportedly received several text messages from Martin, who said he was considering harming himself. The girlfriend said Martin had a pistol in his possession, so police “pinged” Martin’s cell phone and found him behind a nearby Schnuck’s store and took him into custody. He allegedly was found with a loaded pistol, according to the report.
During Arnold Police and a DEA agent interviewed Martin, he reportedly admitted to previously shooting his roommate in St. Louis County with the pistol police found on him. He also allegedly admitted that the safe and drugs found in the BMW belonged to him and told police he was a daily fentanyl user and regularly sold it to at least two people to support his drug habit, the report said.
After initially saying he hadn’t seen the Arnold teen the day she reportedly used the fentanyl that led to her death, Martin changed his story and allegedly admitted to selling the drug to her. He also said they both used fentanyl while they were in the BMW, and then he noticed the teen “nodding off,” got scared and dragged her back to the Impala and put her in the backseat before leaving, according to the report.
Martin reportedly admitted that he didn’t call 911, even though he knew he should have, because he knew police were looking for him because of the shooting in St. Louis County, the report said.