Texas mother urges Congress to treat fentanyl deaths as poisoning, calls for federal laws

Jenna Ellinger, a Texas mother who lost her 20-year-old son, Jake, to a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl, told the Senate Commerce Committee that state law changes in Texas have allowed prosecutors to pursue murder charges in cases where a fentanyl-laced dose resulted in death.

Ellinger said Jake died on May 6, 2021, after taking what he thought was a Xanax pill and that local and federal investigators told the family the death was being recorded as an accident. "Jake's death was not an accident. He was killed—literally poisoned to death," Ellinger told senators. She said the accidental designation prematurely closed investigations and prevented prosecutions in many cases.

Ellinger described how Texas lawmakers amended the penal code and death-certificate practices so medical examiners now record such fatalities as "fentanyl poisoning" and distributors of fentanyl-laced substances that result in death can be charged with murder. "Illegally manufacturing or distributing a fentanyl-laced substance that results in death even from 1 pill may be prosecuted as murder," she said, adding that in the first eight months after the change there were about 25 murder charges and that "to date, there have been nearly 60 murder charges." She urged Congress to adopt federal legislation to mirror those state-level changes.

The witness framed fentanyl as a national crisis that crosses demographic and geographic lines. "This lethal epidemic is killing young Americans and destroying families," Ellinger said. She urged parents and schools to speak directly about fentanyl with young people and for public education campaigns: "Do not think it won't be your kid. ... Do not put your head in the sand."

Committee members from both parties praised Ellinger's advocacy and described prevention campaigns they are supporting in their states, including peer-to-peer outreach and public-awareness messaging such as "1 Pill Can Kill." Several senators asked her about the role of social media and encrypted messaging in buyers locating counterfeit pills; Ellinger said she believed young adults often obtained pills through platforms such as Snapchat and direct-delivery apps.

Ellinger also called for improvements in investigative tools and electronic forensics. She said the DEA was not able to open Jake's phone to obtain leads and described technology and data-sharing gaps that hinder tracing sellers and suppliers.

Ellinger concluded by urging lawmakers to exercise their legislative powers to "save someone's child" and pressed for federal criminal and investigative changes to make prosecutions more likely when fentanyl causes a death.