Bryson Towers, 20, of Denton pleaded guilty Friday to delivering the fentanyl that killed a 15-year-old boy.
The boy, Johnathan Helmke, died in his bedroom on June 16, 2022, of fentanyl toxicity after he ingested a Percocet pill that had been laced with fentanyl.
Following an investigation, Towers and 24-year-old Joshua Adams of North Richland Hills were arrested about a month later and charged with causing Helmke’s death.
Towers was scheduled to face trial on Monday but instead opted to take a plea agreement.
Judge Sherry Shipman of the 16th District Court accepted the plea and sentenced him to five years in prison with 161 days of jail credit for the time he spent in custody before he posted bond.
Shipman also gave him a $1,000 fine and 10 years of probation set to begin after he either serves his five years or is paroled.
After reading his sentence, Shipman asked Towers what he had to say for himself.
“Your family will be without you for a few years,” she said. “But the family of this victim will never have their child back on Christmas.”
Towers responded that he would think about this for the rest of his life. “I’m so sorry,” he said.
Shipman told Towers that she believes people can be redeemed. She also said that she will not tolerate any deviance from the terms of his probation.
“I hope you can take this situation you created and do something good with it,” Shipman said. “I don’t know what that looks like.”
Helmke’s mother, Victoria Ketter, addressed Towers during her victim impact statement.
“If you’re so sorry, the best way to honor [Helmke] is to do right, get better, live well, help the next person that’s walking the same path you’ve been walking,” Ketter said. “It’s not going to bring him back. But … you can’t do something like this, get a slap in the face as punishment, and then get back out there and do it again.”
Her son wasn’t always an angel, Ketter said, but Towers took away the opportunity for him to learn from his mistakes.
In a letter Ketter read aloud, Helmke’s grandmother said she would — for her sake — one day forgive Towers, but that day hadn’t yet come: “You have devastated our lives forever and I don’t forgive you,” his grandmother wrote.
Ketter said she doesn’t forgive Towers yet either.
“But after 540 days, I was happy to hear that, ‘I’m sorry,’” she said.
Helmke’s younger sister said her brother was strong, kind, lovable and one of the smartest people she knew.
“I hope you meant it whenever you said you were sorry,” his sister told Towers. “I hope you think about this and I really hope you do better.”
Adams’ case
Although his case was still filed in the 16th District Court, Adams was indicted separately from Towers.
A trial date has not been set for his case, according to online court records. A register of actions in his case does not indicate whether he will go to trial or take a plea deal.
His next court date, an announcement, is set for Jan. 4, at which point Adams’ counsel and the prosecution could agree to set a trial date, set a plea hearing or continue the case.