Jury hears police interview with Alexis Murray Smith in third day of child abuse trial
Fifth Judicial District prosecutors played video of Carlsbad Police Department's interrogation of Alexis Murray Smith to a jury in an attempt to show she had trafficked fentanyl leading up to the death of her 12-year-old son from an overdose of the drug.
This was during the third day of Murray Smith’s trial Thursday on a count of child abuse resulting in death tied to the death of her son Brent Sullivan. On Sept. 28, 2021, Sullivan was found dead in a shed on the property of his grandmother and Murray Smith’s mother Kellie Smith in the 2400 block of Western Way.
Murray Smith is also charged with one count of child abuse not resulting in death tied to the presence of her infant daughter in the home.
More: What to know as Brent Sullivan's mother faces trial for son's death from fentanyl overdose
Smith received identical charges for her alleged role in Sullivan’s death and was scheduled for trial Nov. 6.
On the third day of Murray Smith’s trial, the testimony of Michael Ortiz, Smith’s boyfriend who first found Sullivan overdosing, continued and prosecutors brought out several pieces of evidence taken from the scene.
The defense questioned the validity of the evidence, and its connection to Murray Smith.
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Here’s what happened on day three of the trial.
Ortiz denies trafficking fentanyl despite video of police interview
Jurors were shown video of Ortiz at the Carlsbad Police Department hours after Sullivan was pronounced dead on Sept. 28, 2021.
In the video investigators questioned Ortiz, who admitted to frequently using methamphetamine, about the presence of fentanyl at Smith’s home where he often stayed.
The defense argued reference to Ortiz's past drug deals should not be presented to the jury as evidence, but Fifth Judicial District Attorney Dianna Luce argued any potential evidence of drug deals would explain the “totality of the situation” Sullivan was in when he died.
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“This is a child abuse case, not a possession case,” she said. “Our theory is that the child overdosed multiple times because of access to fentanyl.”
District Judge Lisa Riley sided with the defense and allowed the video to be played.
In the footage, a distraught Ortiz explained to investigators the events leading up to his finding Sullivan unresponsive in the shed, and nearby evidence of his fentanyl use.
More: Carlsbad grandmother charged with grandson's fentanyl overdose in 2021 released from jail
Ortiz also discussed administering Narcan to Sullivan during an overdose about a month before his death at the house on Western Way. He testified he used two doses of Narcan and physical stimulation to wake up the boy.
He said Murray Smith, Sullivan’s mother, was not present during the previous overdose.
In the police interview Ortiz at first denied that he or Smith were trafficking fentanyl, but after being questioned further admitted that Smith was indeed selling the drug and that he had also sold some of the pills.
He told police he believed Sullivan got the pills that killed him from his mother, the defendant.
Defense Attorney Todd Holmes sought to cast doubt on the interview, contending Ortiz changed his story after investigators made him feel threatened. Ortiz testified he did feel threatened during the interview.
Holmes also pointed out that no pills were ultimately found in the house on Western Way, aside from one found in the shed and pills found in Ortiz’s Nissan Ultima parked on the property.
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“On the video, you said there might be two pills in the house. They found zero pills in the house,” Holmes said when questioning Ortiz on the stand. “So you were wrong about that.”
Ortiz also maintained in court that Smith’s house was “safe for children” and denied drugs were ever used around children at the house.
Detective details evidence of drug use at Murray Smith’s house where Sullivan lived
Carlsbad Police Detective Tim Nyce took the stand to testify on the results of a search he conducted of Murray Smith’s home in the 800 block of Alamosa Street.
He said he found burnt tin foil, indicative of fentanyl smoking, throughout the house, along with a spoon used to cook drugs into a liquid for injection, and multiple Narcan cartridges.
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He testified the foil was “just out in the open” uncovered, and that children would “absolutely” have access.
“The house was very, very dirty. Very cluttered,” Nyce told the jury. “There were just clothes, toys, food, burnt foil around. It was very, very cluttered and a lot of debris everywhere.”
Nyce said testified to finding drugs in the Honda Pilot driven by Murray Smith after it was searched at the Western Way house.
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Murray Smith appears to admit selling fentanyl in police interview
In a recorded interview conducted by Carlsbad Police Department detectives hours after her son died of an overdose on Sept. 28, 2021, Murray Smith was questioned about her use of fentanyl and alleged trafficking.
Murray Smith told police in the video she came home and smelled fentanyl being smoked in the house. She tells the detectives she then took the boy to her mother’s home so she could search for any drugs he had hidden.
More: With fentanyl deaths rising, New Mexico lawmakers look for solutions to fight trafficking
She went to check on him that night and left him at his grandmother’s house overnight.
By noon the next day, 12-year-old Brent Sullivan was dead.
Investigators also pressed Murray Smith in the video to confess to her use of fentanyl, and she eventually told them she used “about 10 pills a day.”
More: 'I was in shock' says man who found Brent Sullivan dead, during mother's child abuse trial
In the interview she admitted she got the drugs from her mother, who would give her about 100 at a time “sporadically” and once gave Murray Smith 300 of the pills which she sold on occasion for about $4 each.
She said in the 2021 interview that she thought her son got the drugs he overdosed on from his grandmother, Smith.
Cellphone evidence used to show Murray Smith confessing to drug possession and use
Carlsbad Police Detective Joey Landgraf extracted several text messages from cellphones taken from the scene, including Murray Smith’s found in her Honda Pilot.
More: 'She knew he was using,' state says as trial begins for mother of boy who died of overdose
The messages were shown to the jury, illustrating multiple interactions between Murray Smith, her mother and Ortiz, where they talked about fentanyl and its alleged presence in the homes where Sullivan stayed before he died.
A text from Smith to Murray Smith at about 11 a.m. on the day of his death said Sullivan had gone missing.
He was found unconscious that day at about noon, and later declared dead at Carlsbad Medical Center.
What’s next?
Landgraf will be cross-examined by the defense, which is likely to question how the text messages and alleged fentanyl indicated intentional child abuse, of which the defendant is charged.
Murray Smith’s mother Kellie Smith, who is also facing charges tied to the incident, is on the witness list but has not yet been called to testify. Her testimony could prove important as Sullivan died at Smith’s residence, and both Ortiz and Murray Smith appeared to indicate Smith was the source of fentanyl used by other family members.
Friday is the last day scheduled for the trial, and the jury will be asked to render a verdict on if Murray Smith is guilty of the two charges.
If convicted, she could face life in prison.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Evidence of fentanyl trafficking offered to jury in Murray Smith trial
