A college student died after she was drugged with fentanyl and raped in a New York City college dorm room, federal prosecutors announced on Thursday.
The student, who prosecutors did not name, and another unnamed student were drugged in a college residence hall in Manhattan in March, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York. The other student survived the incident, prosecutors said.
Court documents show the women went to the Fashion Institute of Technology, which has not returned NBC News requests for comment on the case.
Two men were arrested and indicted in connection with the alleged crime, according to prosecutors.
Moises Freire, 19, of the Bronx, was charged with distribution of a controlled substance with intent to commit rape, distribution of narcotics resulting in death and conspiracy, according to an indictment. Brian Peralta Cabrera, 18, of Queens, was charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and serious bodily injury.
Both have pleaded not guilty. Lawyers for the two men did not immediately return requests for comment.
On March 18, Freire supplied one of the women with what he told her was “pure cocaine” from Mexico and “falsely” assured her that the drug he was providing did not contain any fentanyl, according the indictment.
Prosecutors say that Freire knew that the drug, which he acquired from Cabrera, was fentanyl and had previously described it as “fake” and “poison.”
Freire encouraged the two women to consume the drug upon arriving to the residence hall, according to the indictment.
Both women “immediately” fell unconscious, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say Freire then raped one of the women while she was overdosing on fentanyl as the other woman lie unconscious several feet away.
After raping the unconscious woman, he took naked photos of her and sent them to his friends, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say Freire waited about 45 minutes before he contacted campus security, telling them the women were unconscious because they had too much to drink.
Campus security found the women and rendered emergency medical services before they were transported to a nearby hospital, according to the indictment.
Only one of the women regained consciousness. The woman who was raped died “from complications from acute fentanyl intoxication” a few days later, according to the indictment.
“College should be a place where young people can learn, grow, and pursue their dreams, not a place where predators exploit their vulnerability,” said Christopher Roberts, who is the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration New York Task Force Division.
“Every student deserves to feel safe, whether walking across campus, sitting in a classroom, or inside their own dorm room,” Roberts said.
The announcement of the alleged crimes and arrests come amid a national reckoning over sexual misconduct on college campuses.
Last month, a woman sued Cornell University, her former sorority, her sorority, Tri Delta; a fraternity, Chi Phi; and seven former Chi Phi members after alleging that she was gang raped. And this week, a 21-year-old woman reported to police that she was sexually assaulted at a fraternity party near another elite academic institution, the University of Chicago.