Montevideo, Minnesota, woman sentenced to seven years in overdose death
Sep. 15—OLIVIA
— A woman charged with third-degree murder for the 2021 overdose death of a 23-year-old Granite Falls woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in
Renville County District Court
.
Deja Denise Padilla, 21, of
Montevideo
, was sentenced to 84 months of prison.
Alexis Nicole Labatte died Nov. 13, 2021, according to an emailed news release from Renville County Attorney Kelsie Kingstrom. She had been identified only by initials in court documents.
Judge Laurence Stratton privately reviewed a victim impact statement from Labatte's mother that "expressed the hurt the family is going through," according to the news release.
According to court documents, Padilla and Labatte were related.
Kingstrom said Padilla did not give a statement during sentencing.
In the release, Kingstrom also expressed her sorrow for the family, and stated that she hoped that Padilla's plea and sentencing bring some healing.
Judge Stratton gave Padilla credit for 210 days already served. A charge of third-degree controlled substance crime was dismissed.
Under Minnesota law, offenders are required to serve at least two-thirds of a sentence in custody and may be allowed to serve the remaining time on supervised release. According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, Padilla's expected release date from the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Shakopee is Oct. 18, 2027.
Padilla was arrested in July of 2022 in connection to Labatte's overdose death. According to West Central Tribune files, Padilla had eight other active warrants against her in five other counties at the time.
According to the criminal complaint, the Renville County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call reporting an overdose at a home southwest of Renville. The caller was later identified as Padilla, who reported an unconscious but still breathing female party at the home. She also reported to law enforcement that she was no longer at the residence.
A deputy who spoke with the homeowner at the location was told there was no medical emergency.
Less than an hour later, another caller reported an unconscious female at the same residence. A different deputy arrived and found an unconscious woman in an upstairs bedroom. The deputy administered naloxone — an antidote to opioid overdose — and began CPR.
An ambulance arrived and assisted, but Labatte was pronounced dead at the scene.
A man at the home said he had forgotten Labatte was upstairs when he spoke to the first deputy. According to the complaint, he said that once he remembered, he and another male went upstairs and found her unconscious and called 911 before beginning CPR.
A preliminary autopsy summary from the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office said white powder wrapped in paper was found in her bra. That powder tested positive for fentanyl.
The final autopsy, released in January 2022, said the cause of death was the toxic effects of methamphetamine and fentanyl. Fentanyl, a DEA Schedule II synthetic morphine substitute, is 80 to 200 times as potent as morphine and is fast-acting, the toxicology report said.
During the investigation, law enforcement learned Padilla had allegedly been buying and selling methamphetamine.
It was also uncovered that Padilla was linked to another reported overdose in Montevideo on Nov. 12, 2021. Montevideo Police Department officers successfully administered naloxone to a woman in that case, and she later stated she had purchased a gram of heroin from Padilla.
According to court records, another person interviewed by law enforcement stated they knew of five other overdoses allegedly tied to drugs sold by Padilla.
According to the complaint, witnesses at the scene of the Renville residence placed Padilla in the upstairs bedroom shortly before Labatte was found.
In an interview over the phone with law enforcement, Padilla said she noticed Labatte was "pretty messed up" and had begun slurring her words and "breathing weird." Padilla said Labatte was still breathing when she last saw her lying face down on the bed.
