photo by: Chris Conde/ Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in September 2018.

A man has been charged with distributing a drug that killed a Lawrence father.

The man, Kristopher Koby Alaniz, 35, is charged in Douglas County District Court with one felony count of distributing a controlled substance causing the death of David Joseph Johnson on April 9, 2024, according to charging documents.

Johnson, 32, of Lawrence, was a father of one and described as “a loving, silly, kind, loyal, adventurous, and fun Son,” in his obituary.

The charging document does not specify what type of substance Alaniz is alleged to have distributed to Johnson, however, Alaniz is charged in two unrelated incidents from June 2023 with possession of fentanyl.

Court records indicate that Alaniz was negotiating a plea agreement with the state to resolve those drug charges in addition to two misdemeanor domestic battery charges for incidents in 2021 and 2022. In both domestic cases, Alaniz has already been convicted and granted probation with an underlying six month jail sentence in each case. A motion to revoke probation had been filed in both cases in light of the June 2023 drug charges.

Alaniz was arrested on Friday May 10, in the 2100 block of Haskell Avenue. He is being held on a $250,000 cash or surety bond. Alaniz is next scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Alaniz also has three felony convictions in Douglas County for drug sales in 2009, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.