Fentanyl blamed for death of man in SW OKC

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Five months after three people were found dead inside an Oklahoma City home, officials say they finally have answers.

In March, three people were found unconscious inside a home in the 8700 block of S.W. 36th.

A man called 911 when he says he was getting ready for work and no one was getting up.

“He starts to check on his family members, and that’s when he realized something was terribly wrong when he couldn’t awaken anyone in the house,” said Oklahoma City Fire Department District Chief Sean Cobb.

Fire crews immediately started opening windows in case of carbon monoxide poisoning, but officials say they did not get a reading on their CO device.

Two people were pronounced dead at the scene and one person died at the hospital.

Officials identified those who died in the home as Susan Hadley, Christie Schlund and Jeffrey Vaughn.

In May, the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Vaughn died of “acute combined fentanyl and oxycodone toxicity.”

The next month, the medical examiner’s office announced that Susan Hadley’s also died from accidental fentanyl poisoning.

On Thursday, officials announced that 63-year-old Christie Lynn Schlund died from acute fentanyl toxicity.

Fentanyl is meant for patients with extreme, debilitating pain.

“Fentanyl is very, very powerful. In some cases, it can be several times stronger than just traditional opiates,” said Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics spokesman Mark Woodward.

A report from the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office shows Fentanyl killed 47 Oklahomans from last summer to February of this year.