Left to right: Erica Russell (KPRC) and Eric Sembera (Harris County Jail).
A 26-year-old man in Texas has been arrested for allegedly killing a 24-year-old woman by allegedly giving her a lethal dose of fentanyl. Eric Sembera was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of fentanyl murder by delivery in the death of Erica Russell, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers with the Tomball Police Department on the morning of Aug. 4, responded to a request for a welfare check on Russell at her apartment in the 29000 block of Tomball Parkway. The caller said that Russell had not been answering her phone.
Investigators learned that Russell went out with Sembera on the night of Aug. 2, and failed to show up for work the following day. A co-worker told police that Russell had overdosed in the early morning hours of Aug. 3 and went to the emergency room at HCA Houston Health Care — Tomball for “an apparent fentanyl overdose.”
Sembera accompanied Russell to the hospital, police wrote in the affidavit, describing him as a “known narcotics user.”
Police made contact with Sembera, who informed them that after the emergency room, he brought Russell back to her apartment sometime in the early morning hours of Aug. 3.
In an interview with police, Sembera allegedly said that after work, he, Russell, and another female co-worker were driving to a bar, and he explained to Russell that he previously had “an addiction problem” involving “Oxy,” according to the affidavit. He then did a “bump” of a white powder narcotic and offered some to Russell, who was hesitant at first.
“Sembera stated ‘[Russell] finally was Just like, okay whatever, do it,”” per the affidavit. “And so I pulled out a little bit and dropped it on her phone,” he allegedly continued, adding it was “straight Fentanyl” that was in “rock and powder form.”
Sembera said they left the bar at around 2 a.m. and went back to Russell’s apartment, where they engaged in sexual intercourse. Afterward, Sembera said they went back out to his car, where Russell suddenly “just stopped talking” and began nodding off until he realized she had become unresponsive. He then said he went into “freak out mode,” performing CPR before driving to the emergency room.
Russell reportedly received treatment, including an IV. When Russell woke up a few hours later, she said, “I don’t want to be here anymore,” and “asked the doctors if she could leave.”
“Sembera stated that Russell was waiting for a while and finally she just jumped out of bed and pulled the IV out of her arm,” per the affidavit. “Sembera stated that Russell said, ‘let’s go.’”
Afterward, Sembera said he dropped Russell back off at her apartment and went straight home, authorities said. He also allegedly confessed that he normally smokes fentanyl two or three times per day with his live-in girlfriend. Police said they found white rocks and powder in Sembera’s car that they believed to be fentanyl.
In a statement to Houston NBC affiliate KPRC, Sembera’s defense attorney, Mark Thering, said the charge against his client is ridiculous.
“This is a tragic accident, not a crime,” Thering said. “Unfortunately, he has had troubles with addiction, and he’s currently inpatient therapy and has been diagnosed with addiction disorder.”
Sembera was arrested on Nov. 26 and was released from custody after posting bond of $100,000. He is scheduled to appear in court again on March 4, records show.
