Wichita man pleads guilty to selling fentanyl-laced pill causing woman’s death

WICHITA, Kan. (WIBW) - A Wichita man has pleaded guilty to selling the pill that was found to have been laced with fentanyl to a woman which caused her death.

The U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas announced on Tuesday, Jan. 24, that Javyn Johnson, 24, of Wichita, has pleaded guilty to the distribution of fentanyl.

Court documents indicate that Johnson sold Chanelle Pratt, 29, of Wichita, what she was told were two Percocet pills in August 2019. Later that day, she was found dead in her home after ingesting one of the pills.

Records show that the autopsy found Pratt’s cause of death to be fentanyl toxicity.

In his plea agreement, the Office said Johnson claims he did not know the tablets contained fentanyl, however, he did admit to giving her the pill that caused her death.

“Our nation is in the midst of a crisis where lives are lost every day due to fentanyl poisoning,” said U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard. “This case is an example of how the Department of Justice will hold people who distribute fentanyl accountable.”

The Office noted that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Wichita Police Department investigated the case as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lanny Welch and Katie Andrusak prosecuted.