Fentanyl killed a Pasco student. 6 years later the seller is sentenced

The man who delivered the fatal dose of fentanyl to a 17-year-old Pasco student never intended to kill him.

“I know there are no words that I could say that would make anything better,” Luis Martinez said Thursday in front of a crowded Franklin County courtroom. “If I could go back in time and do things differently, I would.”

Martinez, 25, previously pleaded guilty to controlled substance homicide in the July 2019 death of Josh Lovejoy.

Because Martinez had no previous convictions, he faced a standard penalty of four years, three months to five years and eight months.

But prosecutors and defense attorneys negotiated a three-year prison sentence. The lower term was because of his young age at the time, the fact he didn’t know the pills contained fentanyl and he wasn’t a drug dealer.

The family’s loss

While family members agreed to the sentence, Lovejoy’s sudden death left a hole in their lives.

“It has been 2,237 days since the morning that my only sibling was pronounced dead,” his sister, Kaylee Waters, said during the Franklin County hearing. “That morning has changed the entire trajectory for my parents and I. ... A piece from each of us died on the morning of July 21, 2019.”

His mother, Lisa Lovejoy, said the moments after discovering her son’s body in bed have been etched into her mind. Her grief at the time left her nearly immobile.

“A child’s death has a profound impact on people, especially his parents,” she said. “We’re supposed to die prior to our children.”

Beyond the family, his death affected hundreds, she said. His memorial service drew 600 people.

She’s been left with questions about who her brother might have become and what life he could have led. His death has contributed to her own mental health struggles.

It was compounded by the lengthy wait to resolve the criminal case.

“I still have immense rage and bitterness almost daily since 2019,” she said. “This case being delayed repeatedly has contributed to my rage and bitterness.”

Lovejoy’s mom also said she has faced depression because of his death. It’s changed holidays, birthdays and other family events, she said.

“We’ve had to endure six long and stressful years with a constant change of attorneys, setbacks due to COVID and the way the court system favors the defendant over the victim,” Lisa Lovejoy said. “Six years is too long.”

Waters said her faith in God has given her some refuge, and she didn’t want the two children that Martinez was raising to be without a father figure. So she accepted the three-year term.

“The loss of Josh has been very difficult for our family, but I would be selfish if I did not extend the love and forgiveness each of us can have in Christ,” Lisa Lovejoy said.

An absolute tragedy

Defense attorney Scott Rodgers said the entire case was tragic, and there isn’t any greater loss that a person can experience than the loss of a child.

“Courts are not a justice system. They’re a social control mechanism,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do here this morning, your honor that could do justice. Justice would be restoring Josh and having him right here with us today.”

Rodgers explained that from the beginning of the case, Martinez wanted to apologize for his role, and express his sadness about Josh Lovejoy’s death.

He also didn’t purposefully delay the case. Instead, his first and second attorneys left the firm he hired, and Rodgers was the third attorney.

He said Martinez was not someone who normally sold drugs, but instead was an addict, who considered Josh Lovejoy a friend.

“On that day, he stopped using all illegal drugs,” Rodgers said. “Every time he came to visit my office, which was often, it would usually end with his uncontrollable crying, saying, ‘I was going to take those pills. It should have been me, not my friend Josh.’”

Overdose death

Josh Lovejoy struggled with an ongoing opioid addiction and depression, court documents said. While he had stolen medications and money previously, though he planned to start a rehab program on July 22.

Family members told investigators that Martinez supplied drugs to the teen.

Police found a series of text messages between Josh Lovejoy and Martinez between July 13 and July 20 that discussed picking up drugs, court documents said.

Martinez was 18 at the time.

Josh Lovejoy stopped by a Chapel Hill Boulevard home to pick up three pills.

A video from about 12:40 p.m. on July 20 showed the teen walking into his house from the garage. He can be heard saying that after “one long morning of trying to get these perks (slang for pain pills) ... I finally got them,” court documents said.

The next morning, his mother found him about 7:50 a.m. on July 21.

Blood tests showed that Josh Lovejoy had fentanyl in his system, which contributed to his death.

The charge of delivery fatal drug doses was fairly rare before the fentanyl epidemic, according to Herald archives.

The Tri-Cities, like many communities nationwide, has struggled for several years with a continuing number of deadly overdoses.

The synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than morphine and hundreds of times stronger than street-level heroin, federal officials have said.

This story was originally published September 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.