Austin Minnesota Woman Sentenced For 2 Fatal Fentanyl Overdoses

Austin, MN (KROC-AM News) - An Austin woman has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison for contributing to two fatal drug overdoses last year.

43-year-old Yashica Thomas entered guilty pleas in late January to two counts of third-degree murder through a plea agreement that led to the dismissal of four felony drug charges stemming from a drug raid at a home near an Austin Park last summer. Thomas admitted selling fentanyl to the overdose victims and told investigators she needed the money to support her own drug habit and "make a little extra money."

The third-degree murder charges were connected to the deaths of a 23-year-old Austin man last March and a 22-year-old Austin woman in May of last year. In both cases, investigators uncovered evidence pointing to Thomas as the source of the fentanyl that caused both fatal overdoses.