KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Court documents unsealed Thursday reveal a $60 drug transaction for three fentanyl-laced pills that led to the death of a Gardner teen in February 2022.
Earlier this month, the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office charged Hugo Guzman, 20, with distributing drugs that led to the death of the teen, identified as Wesley Howard.
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The key break in the investigation of Guzman’s alleged role in Howard’s death was thanks to Howard’s mother providing consent for detectives to search through Howard’s phone.
Those records revealed Howard had known Guzman for several months before he ingested the pills that tested positive for fentanyl in his Gardner bedroom on Feb. 20, 2022.
Investigators were able to track down Howard’s text to Guzman regarding their meet up on Feb. 19 at the Chuck E. Cheese near 105th and Metcalf in Overland Park. Thanks to the text message, detectives were able to obtain security footage from the restaurant, which captured Guzman entering Howard’s Chrysler 300. Guzman remained in the back seat of the car for less than half a minute before getting out and returning to his vehicle.
One of Howard’s co-workers, who needed a ride home, was also in the car during the exchange and told detectives he stayed in communication with Howard throughout the night until Howard stopped responding around midnight.
Several months after Howard’s death and the release of the autopsy that showed he had fentanyl and fentanyl metabolites in his system, investigators executed a search warrant at Guzman’s home.
During an interview with detectives, Guzman denied ever selling fake Percocet pills, known as “blues” or “percs” from his house and denied knowing Howard. After detectives showed Guzman surveillance video from the restaurant of him getting into Howard’s car, Guzman remembered that Howard was trying to buy “yerks,” another term for Percocet pills made or laced with fentanyl. Guzman denied selling Howard the pills, instead saying he sold them to the other person in the car.
During the investigation of Howard’s death, the Overland Park Police Department conducted two “controlled buys” of fentanyl from Guzman. The exact dates and locations of the buys were redacted in the court document, but the transactions included blue M-30 oxycodone pills. After finishing the transaction, detectives tested the drugs from each buy, which tested positive for fentanyl.
Guzman was taken into custody and booked into the Johnson County Detention Center on Oct. 12, where he remains on a $250,000 bond. His next court appearance is set for Nov. 30.
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