TOMBALL, Texas – The Tomball restaurant manager accused of killing his coworker by giving her a fatal bump of fentanyl in August 2024 has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Eric Sembera, 28, pled guilty to a lesser charge of delivery of a controlled substance causing death, a second-degree felony, after initially being charged with first-degree fentanyl murder.
After an all day hearing Friday, Harris County Criminal District Court Judge Ana Martinez sentenced Sembera to six years in Texas Department of Criminal Justice custody.
Sembera, whose been free on bond since his arrest in November 2024, was taken into custody after the sentence was handed down.
The victim, Erica Russell, worked at the Tomball restaurant Sembera managed. After work one night in 2024, he gave her a fatal bump of fentanyl, took her to the hospital, they left against medical advice, and she was found dead in her apartment the next day, according to records.
It was the Tomball Police Department’s first fentanyl murder investigation.
“Losing my daughter, losing my Erica, there’s no comparison. I’m in pain every single day of my life,” Russell’s mother Denise said at the time of Sembera’s arrest. “It is a death sentence. If you mess around with fentanyl, there’s a huge chance you’re going to die.”
Russell’s family expressed satisfaction with the judge’s sentence on Friday, telling KPRC 2 News they believe it was fair and they hope Sembera gets the help he needs, but nothing will bring their daughter back.
Sembera faced up to 20 years in prison on the lesser charge, but the judge decided on the sentence after hearing testimony from both families on Friday.
According to Texas Department of State Health Services data, fentanyl overdose deaths have slowly decreased in recent years, from 2,307 in 2023, to 1,670 in 2024, and 1,202 reported last year.
Sembera’s defense attorney has not yet responded to KPRC 2’s request for comment.