Colorado Springs woman charged after 16-year-old dies from fentanyl overdose

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- A Colorado Springs woman is in jail after being charged with dealing drugs to minors, including an alleged fatal dose of fentanyl to a 16-year-old boy.

Maria Cecilia Davis-Conchie has been charged with four felonies and one misdemeanor for giving drugs to three underage boys but has not been charged directly in the death of the boy.

The Fourth Judicial District Attorney's office declined to comment further on this specific case but has previously said that it's difficult to prosecute people who cause drug-related deaths.

In an arrest affidavit obtained by KRDO, Colorado Springs Police officers wrote they received a call at 9:25 A.M. on January 31 to respond to a reported overdose death.

Officers say they went down to the basement of the home where they found the boy dead, his body blue. Police allege there was drug paraphernalia on the boy's bed, including a piece of cut straw used to smoke narcotics. In the boy's drawer, they found two blue pills they suspected to be laced with fentanyl.

The night before the 16-year-old was found dead, he was reportedly out with friends who later dropped him off at home.

Police spoke with the other two boys, who told them they were sold the drugs by Davis-Conchie, who went by the name of 'CeCe.'

They told police that they were first sold Xanax by Davis-Conchie and a man she was frequently with, multiple times over a year, starting in late 2020. They were reportedly unsure if Davis-Conchie had a prescription, or how she would acquire the controlled substance.

Later, the minors told police Davis-Conchie and the man (whose name is redacted in court documents) began to sell them 'percs' which is short for the prescription drug Percocet. The boys said they knew the drugs were fentanyl pills and not Percocet.

On the night of January 30, the boys told police they put their money together and bought four pills for $40 from Davis-Conchie.

When police spoke on the phone with Davis-Conchie, she told them she knew who was responsible for the boy's death and urged them to arrest someone else. That name is redacted in the affidavit.

Police arranged an interview with her at the Colorado Springs Police Department Substation on February 8, but she didn't show up and left police officers a voicemail telling them to contact her attorney.

During a follow-up interview with the boys, investigators were able to learn of several drug dealers Davis-Conchie was allegedly in contact with. Police obtained call logs and text messages from the alleged dealer's phones with Davis-Conchie, one of which appeared to show her purchasing the four pills and delivering them to the minors. Location data backed up their timeline of where and when they allegedly obtained the drugs from Davis-Conchie.

Police believe one of those pills killed the 16-year-old boy.

They issued an arrest warrant for Davis Conchie on February 16.

Davis-Conchie has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions on drug charges in Douglas County, and in El Paso County. She has served multiple prison sentences.

School action plan to combat fentanyl usage in youth

It's not known which school district the 16-year-old boy attended. But Colorado Springs School District 11 says this is not an isolated incident.

"Sadly, we have had a few overdose fatalities within our district this year," District 11 spokesperson Devra Ashby told KRDO. "One child's death is one too many. We need to face this and we need to start talking about it and get educated on exactly how students are accessing it, what it can do."

The district is unveiling a new campaign called, 'Fake and Fatal' hoping to spread awareness about the fentanyl and opioid epidemic, and how it is now making its mark on younger people.

Ashby says school counselors believe students are accessing the drug, and dealers, through social media. They think the pandemic and isolation have caused stress for students. In turn, kids have looked for coping mechanisms, and unfortunately, found unhealthy and illegal means.

The new campaign will encourage parents to be on top of what their kids are doing online, as well as educate teachers on ways to handle it.

"Step one is to train our staff so that they're more aware and understanding and have are equipped with the answers so that they can address some of these issues that they're seeing within the schools. Step two will be a letter to our families, letting parents know how they can start that conversation with their kids. Step three will be a panel discussion with some of our students to talk to them a little bit about what they are experiencing on social media, and how can the adults help you?"

At an upcoming school board meeting, Ashby says the District 11 Board of Education will discuss training school nurses on administering Narcan. Narcan is a nasal spray medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. 

Editors Note: An earlier version of this story said Davis-Conchie was out on bail, as of Friday morning her $100,000 bond has not been posted.