Child abuse trial from Brent Sullivan's deadly overdose starts Monday. Here's what to know.
Twelve-year-old Brent Sullivan was found dead two years ago from a fentanyl overdose in a shed on his grandmother’s property in Carlsbad.
Both his mother Alexis Murray and grandmother Kellie Smith were subsequently charged with child abuse resulting in death as investigators believed they supplied the fatal drug to the child and neglected him through multiple overdoses before it proved deadly on Sept. 28, 2021.
In the two years since the boy was found dead, the trials for both Murray and Smith faced several delays and continuances, but the trial for Murray was scheduled to begin Monday while Smith was expected to go before a Jury Nov. 6.
More: Trial delayed for Alexis Murray, mother of Brent Sullivan who died of fentanyl overdose
If convicted of the first-degree felonies in the jury trials, both women could face life in prison.
They were also charged with child abuse not resulting in death, a third-degree felony, for allegedly using and trafficking the drug in the home where Murray’s then-18-month-old daughter was present.
The trial against Murray was likely to begin with jury selection on Monday morning in Fifth Judicial District Judge Lisa Riley’s courtroom, with opening arguments later that day, and then proceed for the next four days to reach a verdict.
More: What to know as Brent Sullivan's mother faces trial for son's death from fentanyl overdose
Here’s what to know about the case ahead of the trial.
Why was the case most recently delayed?
Murray’s trial was initially scheduled for May 9 but was pushed back four months after the defense argued it had not received requested cellphone evidence from the prosecution.
The motion came after a 113-person jury pool was summoned, and amid the selection process.
Fifth Judicial District Attorney Dianna Luce said in May that her office informed the defense on Feb. 16 it would need to supply the prosecution a terabyte hard drive to comply with the request but did not hear back from defense attorneys until the day of the scheduled trial.
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That evidence included calls and text messages gathered by police from Smith’s and Murray’s phones, Luce said.
Riley granted the defense’s motion for a continuance and rescheduled the trial for Monday.
Jury trials in the case were also scheduled, then postponed from July 1, 2022, Oct. 3 and Oct. 24, 2022, Jan. 3, 2023, and April 4, 2023.
More: Carlsbad grandmother charged with grandson's death back in jail after violating bond
Who is expected to testify at the trial?
Kelli Smith, Murray’s mother also charged in the death of Sullivan, was listed on the prosecution’s witness list along with the infant daughter, now age three, who police said was living at the home where fentanyl was used and sold by Murray and her mother.
John Rauch, who investigators believe was one of the last people to see Sullivan alive, was also listed to be called as a material witness.
Records show Rauch, who is facing unrelated charges in Weatherford, Texas and refusing extradition, allegedly found Sullivan unconscious the day he died, calling 911 and then running from the residence.
A warrant was issued for the Carlsbad Police Department to take Rauch into custody to ensure his attendance as a witness at Murray’s trial.
Witnesses from the neighborhood where Sullivan’s body was found used by the Carlsbad Police Department in the investigation were also listed to be called by prosecutors as was Heather Jarrell and Daniel Gallego of the Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) in Albuquerque as experts in anatomic and forensic pathology.
Carlsbad Police Detectives Joey Landgraf and Tim Nyce were listed as witnesses, along with several officers from the Carlsbad Police Department, Eddy County Sheriff’s Office and the Tucumcari Police Department.
More: Court documents reveal details of Brent Sullivan's death as his mom and grandmother remain in jail
Eddy County Detention Center Warden Billy Massingill was listed as a witness, along with OMI field investigator Rick Wiedenmann.
In total, 35 witnesses were listed for the trial by the prosecution in its latest list submitted Aug. 29.
Here’s what Alexis Murray is accused of, according to the arrest affidavit
On the day of his death Sullivan was first found unresponsive in a backyard shed at a home in the 2400 block of Western Way, and his grandmother and owner of the home Smith confessed at the scene that both she and Murray, Sullivan’s mother, had drug problems, court records show.
More: Alexis Smith to face jury trial in fentanyl overdose death of son following probable cause ruling
She told police Murray was using fentanyl, and that Sullivan was stealing the drug from her “for months,” read the affidavit, and that he had overdosed previously.
When Murray arrived at the scene, she at first denied that the fentanyl Sullivan used when he overdosed was hers, police said.
She later told police Sullivan overdosed three times before his death, and was administered Narcan, but medical treatment was never sought, the affidavit read.
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Murray told investigators she sold fentanyl for her mother, Smith, and recently received about 300 pills but was unsure if those were the pills Sullivan took.
Smith admitted she was present for all of Sullivan’s overdoses but never took him to a medical facility for treatment, read the affidavit.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Trial starts Monday for mother of boy who died of fentanyl overdose
