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Teen charged with girl's OD murder

Xavier Buentello, an 18-year-old, has been charged with the murder of 17-year-old Sienna Contreras. Austin police announced the charges, 4 months after the teen's death.

Published August 6, 2024 at 6:01pm by Bianca Moreno-Paz

18-year-old charged with murder in April fentanyl overdose of 17-year-old Austin girl

An 18-year-old man, Xavier Alexzander Buentello, has been charged with murder in connection to the fentanyl overdose death of 17-year-old Sienna Rae Contreras in April, according to an Austin Police Department (APD) press release.

“According to police, Sienna Rae Contreras' father told responding officers he had last seen his daughter alive the night before, and when he went to wake her in the morning, she was deceased in her bed,” - APD press release

The incident, which occurred in North Austin, has led to one of the first murder charges in Travis County under a new Texas law that allows for steeper penalties for fentanyl-related crimes, including murder, if the substance results in death.

Authorities responded to a 911 call from Contreras' father on April 13, and she was pronounced dead at 11:38 a.m. Investigators determined that Buentello sold fentanyl to Contreras, causing her death, and he was charged under Texas Penal Code 19.02, enacted in September 2023.

Buentello has been in Travis County Jail for several months on unrelated charges, according to the APD.