Austin police file murder charge after 2024 fentanyl-and-meth death found at northwest Austin home
Murder warrant issued in August 2024 overdose death case
Austin police have obtained a murder arrest warrant for a man investigators say supplied fentanyl connected to the death of a northwest Austin resident in 2024. The charge stems from an August 7, 2024 welfare-check response at a home in the 4300 block of Acropolis Court, where officers found 46-year-old Ryan Luper unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at 11:01 p.m.
The Travis County Medical Examiner determined Luper’s cause of death as the toxic effects of fentanyl and methamphetamine. After a follow-up investigation, the Austin Police Department’s Narcotics Support Unit sought and obtained a murder warrant for Stephen Tamayo, identified by police as 40 years old.
Suspect held in Williamson County on unrelated charge
Police said Tamayo was already in custody in Williamson County on an unrelated charge when the murder warrant was issued. No additional public details were released about the separate case or a timeline for Tamayo’s transfer or first court appearance on the Austin warrant.
How fentanyl cases are being charged as homicide in Texas
The arrest warrant fits into a broader shift in how law enforcement and prosecutors can pursue drug-death cases in Texas. In 2023, state lawmakers enacted legislation creating a path to treat certain fentanyl distribution resulting in death as murder under state law. Austin police said the Luper case represented the fourth murder charge filed by the department’s Narcotics Support Unit since that change.
Texas has long prosecuted drug distribution through controlled-substance statutes. The 2023 change adds a homicide option when investigators believe a fentanyl supply chain can be linked to a death, potentially elevating exposure from drug-trafficking penalties to first-degree-felony murder allegations, depending on the evidence and charging decisions.
Case counted among Austin’s 2024 homicides
Austin police classified the death as the city’s 72nd homicide of 2024. The department reported that crime scene specialists processed the location after Luper was found.
Date of death response: August 7, 2024
Location: 4312 Acropolis Court (northwest Austin)
Decedent: Ryan Luper, born November 1, 1977
Cause of death: toxic effects of fentanyl and methamphetamine
Suspect named in warrant: Stephen Tamayo, 40
Any criminal charge is an allegation. A murder warrant does not establish guilt, which must be proven in court.
As of the latest public release, police had not provided details on how investigators linked the suspect to the drugs involved, whether additional suspects were under investigation, or what evidence formed the basis for the murder warrant.