HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A Harris County man is charged with murder after prosecutors allege he provided his 27-year-old daughter with fentanyl, resulting in her death.
Charging documents state that on Thanksgiving Day 2023, Joshua Youngblood visited his daughter, Jade Youngblood, at her Alief apartment off of Bissonnet Street and Synott Road, where he is accused of providing her and her friend with fentanyl.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Houston Division Acting Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell said as Youngblood’s daughter lay “gradually dying from fentanyl,” he did not help her. Instead, he allegedly sexually assaulted his daughter’s unconscious friend.
“This case is extremely, extremely disheartening because it goes against all decency,” Kimbell said.
On Tuesday, officials with the DEA, Harris County Attorney’s Office, and Harris County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference announcing murder and sexual assault charges against Youngblood.
A spokesperson for HCDAO said Youngblood’s case is the eighth fentanyl murder charge the office has filed since the state passed a law in 2023 allowing for murder charges in instances where fentanyl distribution leads to death.
“No one, no one should receive a death sentence because of their choice to use something one day,” Harris County District Attorney’s Office First Assistant Chandler Raine said.
The spokesperson also confirmed that there are no murder charges applicable to other drugs in the state – only fentanyl.
Jade Youngblood’s mother told ABC13 she welcomes the charges.
“Josh, you are a vile person. This is a heinous crime. Jade loved you, and you took her from us,” she said.
Hawkins said she conceived her daughter with Joshua Youngblood in high school.
“Josh was a come-and-go kind of person. When it was convenient for him. And then as Jade got older, it was more of ‘What can Jade do for Josh?'” she explained.
Still, Hawkins said her daughter, who loved to sing and had boundless love for both people and animals, fought for a relationship with her father.
“She craved the love of her father, and I think she gave him a lot of exceptions and allowed him a lot of leniency in areas other people probably would not,” Hawkins said.