OMAHA, Neb. – OMAHA, Neb. – A 29-year-old Omaha man has been sentenced to life in prison after a 4-year-old child died from fentanyl poisoning. A jury convicted Michael Reis of selling the powerful synthetic opioid, which led to the child’s death.
On March 12, 2022, deputies from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) responded to the Aspen Grove apartment complex for an unresponsive child. Officers performed CPR until paramedics transported the child to Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, where the child was later pronounced dead. The cause of death was determined to be fentanyl toxicity.
DCSO investigators identified Reis as a suspect during their investigation. On March 27, 2022, he was arrested on an outstanding warrant. A search of his phone revealed an extensive history of selling fentanyl pills to the child’s mother. Messages from March 12, 2022, showed that Reis delivered a pill to her that day and received a digital payment in return.
In Jan. 2025, the child’s mother was sentenced to five years of probation in connection with her son’s death.
During the trial, Dr. Robert Bowen, a forensic pathologist with the Douglas County Coroner’s Office, and Dr. Suzanne Haney, Chief Physician of Child Abuse Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, testified about the child’s cause of death.
“Fentanyl and fentanyl dealers are a true scourge in our community,” said Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson. “Those who deal and recklessly possess fentanyl should know that there is no room for them in a safe, civil society and that they will be pursued and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Reis has a second federal case in which he pled guilty to sex trafficking of a minor.