Picayune man sentenced to 40 years

Press Release - District Attorney Hal Kittrell

District Attorney Hal Kittrell announces that, on July 25, 2025, in Pearl River County Circuit Court, Judge Brad Touchstone sentenced Derek Jarrell (44) of Picayune to 40 years in prison for Fentanyl Delivery Resulting in Death and related narcotics offenses. This case is believed to be the first conviction statewide under Parker’s Law, a statute passed in 2022 that increases penalties for sales of fentanyl that result in someone’s death.

On November 14, 2024, Pearl River County Coroner Derek Turnage was called to a residence in Poplarville by Police Chief Chad Dorn. Turnage determined that Steven Sanchez had died as the result of a fentanyl overdose. Capt. Joe Garcia of the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office responded to the residence as did agents of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. A joint investigation by MBN Agents from the Hattiesburg and Coast districts and the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office led officers to suspect that Derek Jarrell had supplied the deadly fentanyl to Sanchez.

An undercover operation then resulted in Jarrell attempting to delivery another quantity of fentanyl, at which time he was arrested. During his arrest, Jarrell swallowed a portion of fentanyl to prevent officers from seizing it. He was arrested for possession of fentanyl with the intent to deliver and tampering with physical evidence. Prosecutions under Parker’s Law are very difficult because authorities must develop compelling proof that a defendant sold fentanyl for something of value with knowledge that it was fentanyl, and that “death to a person results from the proximate cause of injection, oral ingestion, or inhalation of the fentanyl.”

There are further requirements of the statute that must be satisfied as well. While defendants in other districts have previously been charged with violations of Parker’s Law, no prior case has resulted in a conviction under the law. The conviction in this case for the fentanyl overdose death of a Pearl River County resident resulted from the effective coordination of law enforcement and forensic resources from the start, careful evidence collection and analysis, undercover operations to further develop the evidence picture, and the persistence of multiple agencies and officers in organizing and augmenting proof of the various separate elements needed to bring this investigation to a successful conclusion in court.

The fentanyl case was prosecuted by assistant district attorneys Christina Holcomb and Beau Stewart. Jarrell had previously been charged with other narcotics offenses by the Picayune Police Department and pled guilty to those charges as well.

Kittrell stated, “Fentanyl is an especially dangerous drug because of its lethality in small doses and because it is often substituted for other substances, resulting in a terribly high number of deaths associated with its use. Even more troubling, we are starting to see an increase in people who are intentionally seeking out fentanyl as a drug of choice. Hopefully, this conviction will raise public awareness and serve as a deterrent to others. We support the law enforcement agencies in this district that are fighting to combat the scourge of fentanyl, and we will continue to vigorously prosecute the violators.”

Kittrell commended Coroner Turnage and the officers involved in this case for a thorough investigation as well as the high level of interagency coordination and good criminal case management that made it successful.

“This conviction marks a major milestone in our state’s efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis. Parker’s Law was designed to hold drug dealers accountable for the lives lost to this deadly substance, and this case sends a strong message: if you knowingly sell fentanyl that kills someone, you will face serious consequences. I commend the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Pearl River County authorities, and District Attorney Kittrell’s office for their unwavering commitment to justice in this case,” said Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell.