23-year-old Lawrence woman at center of drug-death case died of acute fentanyl intoxication

photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

William Martin Byrd, left, and Mason Duane Robinson

A woman at the center of a criminal case in which two men are being charged with distribution of a controlled substance leading to death died of acute fentanyl intoxication, according to an autopsy report obtained by the Journal-World.

The woman, Angelyca Leann Cowdin, 23, of Lawrence, died on April 14. She was connected to an address in the 1900 block of Miller Drive where police responded the same day to a report of an overdose or accidental poisoning.

The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office has declined to confirm that Cowdin was the decedent in the case.

The medical examiner’s report indicates that Cowdin was found unresponsive in the yard of her residence and that emergency personnel pronounced her dead at the scene.

“It is my opinion based on the circumstances surrounding death and the findings at autopsy that Angelyca L. Cowdin died as a result of acute fentanyl intoxication,” wrote medical examiner Ransom A. Ellis. “The manner of death is accident.”

As the Journal-World reported, two Lawrence men were arrested two months later and charged June 15 in Douglas County District Court. William Martin Byrd, 36, and Mason Duane Robinson, 26, both face one count of distribution of a controlled substance leading to death, a level-one felony.

Both men have criminal records.

Byrd was convicted of a level-five felony drug possession in November of 2018, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Robinson has numerous convictions in Douglas County, including felony criminal threat in 2017 and felony burglary in July of 2019, and he was on post-release supervision as of January 2022, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

The men appeared last week in Douglas County District Court, where a cash bond of $100,000 was set for each. Neither man had posted bond as of Monday afternoon. They are next scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid — originally developed for pain management in cancer patients — that is 50-100 times stronger than morphine and that often results in overdose deaths when used illicitly, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. It is commonly added to other illegal drugs to increase their amounts and potency and to heighten addiction, and people often consume it unknowingly.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 71,238 people died in the U.S. in 2021 from fentanyl-related causes.

As the Journal-World previously reported, Lawrence police last year said they were seeing an increase in drug overdoses involving fentanyl.

“We suspect that certain batches of heroin currently circulating in Lawrence have increased and sometimes include deadly amounts of fentanyl,” said Lt. Amy Rhoads at the time, and she referenced a free Naloxone program. Naloxone is a an opioid reversal drug that can counteract the effects of an overdose.

DCCCA offers Naloxone to any resident or organization in Kansas upon request. Its number is 785-841-4138. The Naloxone request form is online at dccca.org/naloxone-program.

— Reporter Chris Conde contributed to this report.

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