Sentence In West St. Paul Girl's Fentanyl Death Called 'Unfortunate'

WEST ST. PAUL, MN — A 19-year-old Bloomington man was sentenced Thursday to 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation after selling pills containing fentanyl that caused the death of a 15-year-old West St. Paul girl.

Parker Jay Benson pleaded guilty in February to one count of murder in the third degree (sell, give or distribute I or II controlled substance).

Judge Cynthia McCollum's sentence for Benson on Thursday was a downward dispositional departure from the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines. The state had asked for a prison sentence of more than six years.

"Today’s sentencing is unfortunate and a disappointment as a young girl lost her life due to the actions of Mr. Benson," said Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena in a statement.

"Dakota County is not immune to illicit fentanyl poisoning and it’s taking too many young lives in our community. My deepest sympathies to the victim’s family members, friends and loved ones."

According to investigators, a mother told police that after going to bed at 11 p.m. on April 20, 2022 she woke up and noticed a light coming from her daughter's bedroom. The mother entered to find her daughter face down on her bed with a blue pill next to her, authorities said.

The mother rolled her over and saw that her daughter was blue in the face, so she called 911 and started CPR, according to investigators.

The girl was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the cause of death as "fentanyl toxicity," authorities said.

The girl's cellphone was given to the Dakota County Electronic Crimes Unit. On April 16, 2022, a Snapchat conversation between the girl and "Parker" — who was later identified as Benson — began with the girl asking "do you come to west st. paul."

Benson responded "yes watcha need" on April 17, 2022, police said.

On April 19, 2022, the two made arrangements for Benson to meet up and sell the girl four "perk" pills for $60, according to authorities. Just after 9 p.m., Benson messaged, "pulling up," and the girl later messaged "thanks bro next time I’ll buy more," according to authroities.

Less than an hour later, Benson messaged the girl to "only take like less than a quarter of it," according to authorities. Just after 2 a.m., Benson messaged her again, asking "they hitting?" investigators said.

There was no response from the girl, according to police.

Authorities said they also uncovered the girl's photographs in social media memories from the evening of April 19, 2022between 9:12 p.m. and 9:38 p.m.

Those images showed the following, according to authorities:

• 9:12 p.m. — An image showed a hand holding blue pills contained in plastic wrap
• 9:25 p.m. — An image showed four blue pills with "M" on the pill atop what appeared to be a blanket
• 9:25 p.m. — About 20 seconds later, another image showed four blue pills lined up on a makeup case with two of the pills with the "M" side up and two with “30” side up
• 9:33 p.m. — An image showed four lines of powder on a makeup case

At 9:44 p.m., the girl sent a photo to her friend over Instagram of blue pills contained in plastic wrap, police said.