Texas police have used a law aimed at drug dealers to charge with murder the girlfriend of a fired Tarrant County juvenile court judge who died of an overdose last year.
William Shane Nolen, 47, was found dead in a bedroom of his home on November 20, 2023, after 24-year-old Kami Ludwig called 911 to report an overdose, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
An autopsy determined the cause of Nolen’s death was mixed drug toxicity, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office said. The office said those drugs were fentanyl and trazodone, an antidepressant.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded the cause of Nolen’s death was mixed drug toxicity. The office identified the drugs as fentanyl and the antidepressant trazodone.
Grapevine Police said that cell phone records showed that Ludwig bought fentanyl and gave it to Nolen.
A state law that went into effect last year allows anyone who manufacturers or supplies drugs that cause a death to be prosecuted for murder. The law was intended for use against dealers.
“They found evidence that she sought out the pills,” Grapevine Police spokesperson Amanda McNew told KDFW. “She bought them and brought them back to the victim. He took them, and he died.”
Court documents indicate that Ludwig and Nolen were habitual drug users. Ludwig’s attorney told KDFW in a statement that “she, too, struggles with the loss of a beloved friend.”
“Fentanyl murder is a serious accusation, and judgment should be withheld until all the facts and circumstances are known,” defense attorney Tiffany Burks said.
Ludwig was initially charged with possession of a controlled substance in November. She was charged this week with murder and has since bonded out of jail.
Nolen was fired from his job as an associate judge with the Tarrant County Juvenile Court in 2019 for a rules violation, State District Judge Alex Kim, who presides over the juvenile, did not say what the violation was, the Star-Telegram reported.
