A 15-year-old Wisconsin girl has been charged as an adult and is accused of selling another teen fentanyl that led to their overdose death. It’s the latest example of a growing trend of so-called “death by dealer cases.”
Maylia Julieanna Paige Sotelo is facing up to 40 years in prison for first-degree reckless homicide. The Drug Enforcement Administration said she was found with 775 fentanyl pills, 60% of which were lethal doses.
Wisconsin is one of 23 states where anyone, teen or otherwise, accused of causing the overdose death of another person by providing or selling drugs is charged with homicide. The state is third in the country for drug-induced homicide prosecutions.
Wisconsin is also one of 16 states where children as young as 10 who are accused of homicide are automatically charged as adults.
