Teen charged with manslaughter after dealing deadly dose of fentanyl: Sheriff

DELAND, Fla. - Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood was furious as he spoke about the overdose death of a DeLand High School student.  The victim was found unresponsive at his home with a white powdery substance nearby. 

Another 17-year-old has been charged with manslaughter, accused of selling him fentanyl. 

During a news conference on Monday afternoon, Sheriff Chitwood said detectives recovered a cell phone that was next to the victim that contained a text exchange which led them to identify the suspect. Detectives located and arrested the suspect inside his car, where Sheriff Chitwood said they found fentanyl and a pound of marijuana.

Months earlier, the sheriff said the suspect in this case also allegedly sold a vape laced with an unknown substance to a 14-year-old girl that made the girl "critically sick," though she recovered.

"Clearly, this guy is supplying. This is where he makes his money," said Sheriff Chitwood, "and everybody knows where to go to buy stuff from this guy, and from the conversations, he supplies it all -- Adderall, weed, you name it, he supplies it."

WARNING: In the video below, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood addresses the media about an arrest made in an alleged fentanyl overdose death. Viewers may find some of the language offensive.

"So not only are they carrying guns and shooting each other and shooting other folks, but now we've got kids who are peddling in a truly powerful and deadly narcotic," the state attorney said.

Sheriff Chitwood made an impassioned plea to administrators of the Volusia County Schools, demanding that they provide campuses with the lifesaving opioid overdose nasal spray NARCAN.

"Any school district that wants to deploy this can do it with no cost. They are covered under the Good Samaritan Act," he added. "Fentanyl is everywhere. It's in marijuana, it's in Adderall, it's in vape pens. People are dying an incredible ratio and it's now in our schools!"

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The sheriff also said the public schools and law enforcement can only do so much to monitor drug use among children in the county.

"As a parent, why are you not checking your kid's school bag? Why are you not checking their room? If they're old enough to drive, why are you not searching that car?" he asked. 

This was the first reported overdose death of the year within the school district. At present time, NARCAN is not carried in the Volusia County Schools.