CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – After two days of testimony and two hours of deliberation, a Montgomery County jury found John Norman Vandal guilty of second-degree murder in the 2019 fentanyl-related death of his friend, Kayla Marie Valasquez.
On Dec. 14, 2019, Valasquez, 28, died after using fentanyl unlawfully distributed by Vandal, prosecutors said. The defense argued the two were friends who used drugs together and that the state failed to prove Vandal caused her death.
State prosecution: ‘It was the defendant’s fentanyl that killed Kayla’
Assistant District Attorney Dillon Barker told jurors the evidence established a clear chain of events linking Vandal to Valasquez’s death. “A deadly drug, a delivery, directions for death,” he said.
Barker argued Valasquez contacted Vandal on Dec. 13, 2019, while experiencing withdrawal symptoms and arranged for a drug drop-off while shopping with her family. He said Vandal confirmed her vehicle, placed the drugs inside and later sent her instructions on use. “Kayla told him that she was scared, so he lowered the amount,” he said. “Again, Kayla told the defendant she was scared.”
Barker walked the jury through Valasquez’s final hours after the drop-off was made. “She went back home. … She helped put up the Christmas tree. She was watching her son. She had supper with her family,” he said. Barker said testimony from Valasquez’s father showed she never left home that night and was found unresponsive by a family friend around 4 a.m. the next day.
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Under Tennessee law, Barker told jurors, unlawful distribution of fentanyl resulting in death constitutes second-degree murder.
“The defendant gave Kayla what he called ‘extremely potent’ drugs,” Barker said. “We know there was a lethal range of fentanyl in Kayla’s blood.”
Barker pointed to Vandal’s testimony, during which he acknowledged placing drugs in Valasquez’s car in exchange for the syringes and money she left for him.
“There’s only one person in this case who said he gave her drugs that day,” Barker said. “Without the fentanyl, Kayla would be alive today. … It was the defendant’s fentanyl that killed Kayla,” he said
Defense attorney: State failed to prove murder
Defense attorney Chase Smith urged jurors not to equate tragedy with criminal guilt, arguing the state failed to prove Vandal knowingly provided fentanyl or caused Valasquez’s death. “Murderer … for something that voluntarily she wanted?” Smith asked.
Smith argued Valasquez was an experienced drug user who supplied her own money and equipment and had access to drugs from multiple sources.
He questioned the absence of fentanyl recovered from her bedroom and suggested oxymorphone combined with fentanyl may have contributed to her death. “They still have to prove that he even delivered the fentanyl,” Smith said, maintaining Vandal believed he was providing heroin.
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Smith also cited Isenschmid’s testimony that fentanyl concentration alone does not automatically determine lethality and referenced his prior expert testimony from the George Floyd case.
“She shouldn’t be dead,” Smith said. “But isn’t her death a result of her drug addiction?”
Smith emphasized that Vandal and Valasquez were friends who used drugs “hundreds of times together” and argued the investigation failed to rule out other potential sources of the drugs. “Nobody should have to bury their child. Nobody … but where you choose to lay that blame sometimes is misplaced,” he said.
Verdict and sentencing
Following closing arguments, and after approximately two hours of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict on the charge of second-degree murder. Vandal’s bond was revoked and he was taken into custody.
Second-degree murder is a Class A felony that carries a sentence of 15 to 60 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for April 15.
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