CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – John Normand Vandal was sentenced Wednesday to serve 18 years for the 2019 fentanyl-related death of his friend, 28-year-old Kayla Marie Valasquez.
Vandal was found guilty Jan. 22, 2026 of second-degree murder, a Class A felony.
Events leading to Valasquez’s death
On the morning of Dec. 14, 2019, EMS responded to a home on Georgetown Road, where Valasquez was found unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Family friend Jeffrey Cothron, who lived in the home, previously testified he discovered Valasquez around 4 a.m. “She’s cold, and her arms are stiff,” he said in a distressed 911 call played for jurors.
During the trial, Vandal testified that he dropped off drugs to Valasquez the day before she died and warned her about their potency. He told jurors her death “haunts me almost every day” and said both of them understood the risks. “Any use could be fatal,” he said…