Burnsville man sentenced in Eagan teen’s fentanyl death

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·4 min read

One of two men charged with murder in the fentanyl death of an Eagan teen has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Dakota County Judge Tracy Perzel sentenced 30-year-old Jamal Ahmed Adan of Burnsville on Thursday in connection with providing the potent synthetic opioid that killed 16-year-old Hunter Vernon Carlson in January 2021.

Adan had pleaded guilty to third-degree murder as part of a February agreement with prosecutors that included the 60-month term and dismissing a charge of third-degree sale of a controlled substance.

Adan’s sentence was a downward departure from state sentencing guidelines. In giving the lower sentence, Perzel said the crime was “less onerous than usual” for the murder charge. Adan received credit for 399 days already served in custody.

His co-defendant, Sadiq Aden Isack, 28, of Bloomington, faces the same two charges and is scheduled for a jury trial in July.

Died in bed

According to the criminal complaint, Eagan police officers were called to the teen’s home around 10 a.m. Jan. 28 after his mother found him lying face down in his bed and unresponsive. Officers and medics tried to resuscitate the teen, but he was pronounced dead at the home.

Officers learned that Carlson had been “experimenting” with Percocet. In a safe in Carlson’s bedroom, officers found a bottle with one partial blue pill, along with drug paraphernalia.

An autopsy determined Carlson died as a result of positional asphyxia and fentanyl toxicity.

Carlson’s 16-year-old friend told investigators that Carlson contacted him on Jan. 27 and said he wanted Percocet. The teen said he contacted his “plug,” which is street slang for a drug dealer, and arranged to buy two Percocet pills.

He said Carlson gave him $40 to buy two pills and that he sent an extra $5 through Cash App. The $5 transaction was located on the teen’s phone and bank records, payable to “justjay.”

The teen said he purchased the pills from a man he knows as “Jay” and that the transaction happened near Carlson’s house. He said he brought the pills to Carlson’s home. He said Carlson split one pill and they each snorted half. He said that about 15 minutes later, Carlson snorted part of the second pill. He then left Carlson’s house.

A phone number he gave police registered to Isack, and Adan was identified as “Jay,” who drove a Toyota Camry to the Jan. 27 drug deal, the complaint said. The teen identified both men in a photo lineup.

Arrested at motel

Police officers on Feb. 13, 2021, saw the car at a Burnsville motel. Isack answered and allowed them inside, where officers also saw Adan, a third man and a plastic baggie with light blue pills on a nightstand.

A search warrant was obtained for the room, where officers found 38 pills imprinted with an “M” on one side and a “30” on the other, which are markings consistent with oxycodone hydrocodone. Adan also had eight pills in his pocket.

A forensic search of phones found in the room showed that around 9:40 p.m. Jan. 27 a message was sent from Isack’s phone to Adan’s phone that included the teen’s phone number and the address where he would buy the pills, the complaint said.

After learning of Carlson’s death, the teen messaged “Jay” and told him that the drugs “Jay” sold him had killed his friend. Adan’s phone showed that in February internet searches were made for “fentanyl side effects” and “fentanyl test kit.”

Testing by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension showed the broken pill found in Carlson’s safe, the pills in the baggie and those in Adan’s pocket all contained fentanyl.

Teen also charged

The Dakota County attorney’s office filed a motion in late 2021 to certify Carlson’s friend, who had turned 17 years of age, as an adult on a third-degree murder charge. The motion was denied by the court.

He pleaded guilty to the charge as an extended jurisdiction juvenile last year and was given a stayed sentence of 86 months in prison and placed on probation until age 21 with conditions.

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