Ray pleads not guilty in fentanyl-related death of Lehman High School student

SAN MARCOS — Jaquell Desean Ray, 18, of Buda waived his arraignment and entered a plea of not guilty on Thursday, July 13 to charges of murder and delivery of a controlled substance to a minor.

Shackled at his wrists, waist and feet, he shuffled in to Courtroom 10 of the Hays County Government Center in San Marcos to appear before Judge Tanner Neidhardt. Ray is represented by Todd S. Dudley, his court-appointed attorney.

According to a news release issued by the Hays County District Attorney’s Office on May 3, Hays County EMS and the Hays County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a call for service on April 11 at a residence in the 100 block of Cotton Gin Road in Kyle. A 15-year-old was found unresponsive and not breathing. While lifesaving measures were attempted by EMS, the juvenile was pronounced deceased.

A preliminary investigation by the HCSO Criminal Investigation Division and the Special Services Division (SSD) indicated that the teen’s death was caused by an accidental fentanyl overdose. Presumptive testing confirmed that the victim tested positive for fentanyl. An investigation led SSD to identify Ray as the alleged seller of the deadly drug, according to the DA’s office.

That same day, he was arrested and charged with delivery of a controlled substance or marijuana to a minor, a second-degree felony. He was subsequently booked on a $100,000 bond in the Hays County Jail.

On May 1, Ray was also charged with delivery of a controlled substance to a minor, a second-degree felony, and murder, a first-degree felony.

His bond was set for a total of $400,000.

A joint press conference with the DA’s office and the Drug Enforcement Administration Fentanyl Task Force was held on May 3.

“I want the people who sell it to know, I want anyone considering selling it to know, that you can face a charge of felony murder,” DA Kelly Higgins said at the press conference. “It is a first-degree felony, punishable by five to 99 [years] to life in a Texas prison. To sell fentanyl is to risk a life in prison.”

At Ray’s hearing on July 13, Neidhardt approved the defense counsel's request for a discovery hearing to be held on Aug. 1 and an all motions hearing on Aug. 22.