A St. Louis County man has admitted to supplying fentanyl that killed a 19-year-old Arnold woman in June 2022. William Edward Martin, 23, was the last of four defendants to plead guilty in the case, according to court documents.
Martin pleaded guilty Oct. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, distribution of fentanyl with a resulting death, distribution of fentanyl and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 26, court records said.
The distribution charge resulting in a death carries a penalty of 20 years to life in prison. The conspiracy to distribute and distribution charges each are punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and the firearm charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, according to the plea agreement.
Steven Littler, 34, and Jacqueline Williamson, 34, both of St. Louis, pleaded guilty to supplying Martin and Tanisha Payne, 23, of St. Louis with fentanyl. Payne pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute.
Littler was sentenced on Oct. 17 to 17 1/2 years in prison. Williamson and Payne are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 10, according to court records.
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.
According to the guilty plea, Martin was seen in surveillance video meeting the victim at 8:43 p.m. June 23 in the parking lot outside of the Walgreens pharmacy, 3937 Vogel Road, in Arnold. Martin drove to the pharmacy in a BMW that belonged to Payne, and the victim arrived in a 2006 Chevrolet Impala.
The teen was seen getting into the BMW, and at 9:12 p.m., Martin was seen dragging the victim from the car, putting her in the backseat of the Impala and then leaving in the BMW at 9:16 p.m., the report said.
The victim’s father found the teenager in the Impala at 4:42 a.m. June 24. He was searching for his daughter because she had not returned home the previous evening, according to the report.
On June 29, Arnold Police located the BMW seen in the surveillance video and attempted to stop the car. At the time Martin was driving the car, which fled from police, and Payne was a passenger, the report said.
A short time later, police spotted the BMW again, and at that point, Payne was driving it and Martin no longer was inside. Payne told police she had dropped off Martin at a Circle K gas station in Arnold, and she gave police consent to search the car, according to the guilty plea.
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 Payne, she received several text messages from Martin, who said he was considering harming himself. She 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 was found with a loaded pistol, according to the report.
Martin had previously been convicted of at least one felony crime and was imprisoned for a term of more than a year, the guilty plea said.
When Arnold Police and a DEA agent interviewed Martin, he admitted to previously shooting his roommate in St. Louis County with the pistol police found on him. He also 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 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 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.
In the days leading up to the fatal overdose, Littler warned Martin of the fentanyl’s potency, calling it “deadly strong” and “dangerous” in text messages. On June 25, Martin sent a text to another individual that said he should have called 911 or taken the teen to a hospital and that “there’s so many things I could’ve done to save her and now she’s dead,” the guilty plea said.
Martin also continued to sell fentanyl after the teen’s death based on text messages he exchanged with Littler on June 26 and June 27, the report said.
The case was investigated by Arnold Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service and St. Louis County Police.
U.S. assistant prosecuting attorney Lisa Yemm is handling the case.