EVANSVILLE — When Evansville police sergeants Kyle Thiry and Peter DeYoung arrived to the scene of a suspicious death in April 2021, they discovered an all-too-familiar scene: one small blue pill – cut in half – with "30" stamped on one side and "M" stamped on the other.
A folding knife, located nearby, had blue residue on it.
The pill, an oxycodone tablet that contained fentanyl, killed 29-year-old Evansville resident Zachary Goodin and has now led to the arrests of two people for dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death.
Todd Gardner, 26, who authorities say sold the pill to Goodin, was arrested and charged in August 2021. Raven Young, 25, who reportedly sold Gardner the pill he later gave to Goodin, was arrested Feb. 16.
Fentanyl epidemic:They were small-town Indiana friends. Fentanyl killed them both.
And two days before Young's arrest, local and federal law enforcement officials in Henderson, Kentucky, had a news conference to announce indictments against three people accused of selling fentanyl that caused two overdoses and one death.
While Indiana prosecutors have been able to charge dealers in connection with overdoses for years, these laws were rarely enforced until recently.
As fentanyl continues to fuel a surge in overdose deaths, local law enforcement officials say they are carefully investigating overdoses to find information pinpointing the source of deadly drugs.
Text messages detail deadly transaction
An overdose that took Goodin's life in April 2021 is one example of law enforcement's new strategy to curb the spread of fentanyl.
Investigators used text messages, physical evidence, interrogations and cellphone location data to charge Gardner and Young. .
The two Evansville residents accused of causing Goodin's overdose were low-level drug dealers, according to court records. Police say Gardner was Goodin's coworker.
The fatal incident began on April 24, 2021, when Goodin asked Gardner if he had any pills to sell, according to court documents.
At 5:48 p.m., after finishing his shift at work, Gardner texted Goodin: "Getting it now I'll (text you) when I'm home. Bout 20 mins."
After allegedly selling the pill to Goodin, Gardner sent another text, this time asking Goodin how he was feeling. One hour later, Goodin texted Gardner, "I appreciate it again bro. You made it hassle free and quick."
Police found Goodin dead two days later, on April 26, 2021. A review of the final autopsy report found that Goodin had died of a fentanyl overdose.
Evansville police, in partnership with the DEA, sifted through Goodin's cell phone data on Aug. 9, 2021, and found the information that eventually led investigators to Gardner. A combination of text message and cellphone location data was then used to confirm the "Todd" listed in Goodin's phone was in fact Todd Gardner.
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Police arrested Gardner on Aug. 30, 2021, at his apartment, and charged him with dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death.
In an interview with detectives, Gardner admitted to purchasing a pill for Goodin and identified Young as the woman he bought the pill from. Investigators later obtained Facebook messages that supported Gardner's claim, they said.
Young was arrested on Feb. 16, 2022 — more than five months after Gardner's arrest — for dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death. Her case is ongoing.
Gardner's case was transferred from Vanderburgh County Circuit Court to Greene County Circuit Court after he requested a change of venue. According to court records, his trial is set to begin on April 11.
Fentanyl to blame for increase in Indiana overdoses
Between 2020 and 2021, overdose deaths in Indiana surged more than 23%, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The bleak statistics reveal how synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, have outpaced other drugs in the harm they cause to users and communities.
In the past 12 months, the CDC attributed more than 1,800 deaths in Indiana to synthetic opioids. Compare that to heroin, which caused 107 fatal overdoses during the same period.
Michael Gannon, assistant special agent in charge at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in Indianapolis, said Mexican drug cartels have ramped up production of highly potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
"They're able to mass produce this stuff at crazy, crazy levels," Gannon said. "We've seized in Indiana alone hundreds of thousands of these counterfeit pills, and we've even seized significant, kilogram quantities of (pure) fentanyl."
At least 40% of counterfeit opioid pills tested by DEA laboratories carried a lethal dose of fentanyl, according to Gannon. Fentanyl in powder form is also increasingly mixed into other drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, exposing unsuspecting users to potentially fatal doses of the drug.
"When somebody gives (fentanyl) to somebody for a profit or sells it, and somebody dies of a drug overdose, there has to be repercussions," Gannon said. "It isn't like you can say you didn't know what you were doing."
Law enforcement shifts strategy
According to Evansville Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Anna Gray, fentanyl has run "rampant" across the Tri-State area for several years.
She said recent advances in technology have helped police and Vanderburgh County prosecutors bring charges against dealers for causing lethal overdoses.
Gray also said skyrocketing overdose rates forced police to shift their tactics.
"I think the last couple of years, what changed is that people don't know what (drugs) they're getting," she said. "But it's mostly because these dealers, who are supplying fentanyl-laced narcotics, know that they are lethal."
In past decades, most overdoses involved ingesting large quantities of pills, often intentionally, or accidental heroin overdoses, according to Gray. That made it harder to pin any single death on a specific dealer. But the lethality of fentanyl, coupled with the fact dealers frequently sell counterfeit pills, makes it easier to charge someone for causing an overdose.
"We started seeing overdoses where either people were buying a pill that they thought was something else, such as maybe a Xanax, but it was laced with fentanyl," Gray said. "So (dealers) are willingly selling the stuff knowing what it does. ... That's where we started taking things to another level."
Death investigations
According to Indiana law, any death involving violence, unusual circumstances, or a person who is otherwise in good health warrants a death investigation by the county coroner.
In Evansville, a detective from the police department works alongside the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's office and the coroner to investigate a cause of death.
If the investigation attributes a death to an overdose, Gray said detectives begin searching for connections between the victim and a dealer.
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But the wheels of justice turn slow.
Gray said overdose death investigations are complex and can take months, or years, to come to fruition. Cellphone location data, text messages and social media accounts need to be analyzed.
"We have to start connecting the dots if you will; start climbing the ladder of the investigation," Gray said. "It doesn't happen quickly — as far as charging somebody — but we have had some luck."
Sheriff Dave Wedding said he's witnessed the havoc synthetic opioids have wrought on the broader Evansville community.
In addition to comprehensive treatment for addicts, Wedding hopes prosecutors continue to charge dealers in connection with overdose deaths.
"We arrest these dealers over and over and over again," Wedding said. "What is the cost? Do we as a community think selling drugs to people is a serious offense? If we do, we have to hold them accountable."