A college student who fatally overdosed on fentanyl was raped by the man who gave her the drug as she lay unconscious in her Manhattan dorm room in March, federal prosecutors said on Thursday.
Moises Freire, 19, brought a bag of a powdery white substance to two women who had asked him to bring them cocaine, prosecutors said.
Insisting the drug was “pure” and from Mexico, prosecutors said, Mr. Freire placed the bag, which instead contained fentanyl, in front of them. Shortly after the women ingested it, prosecutors said, they both fell unconscious. Three days later, one was dead.
Prosecutors did not name the victims of the overdoses or where they took place. But friends and family identified the woman who died as Annabel Richter. Ms. Richter and her roommate, who survived overdosing on fentanyl, were students at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Flavia Rocha, Ms. Richter’s mother, said her daughter was a “luminous presence” who “had so many plans and aspirations for the future, and love in her heart.”
“We miss her so much,” Ms. Rocha said in a statement on Friday after the charges against Mr. Freire and Brian Peralta Cabrera, who prosecutors said provided Mr. Freire with the fentanyl, were announced. “We hope her story brings awareness about the deadly harms our kids are exposed to, and their vulnerabilities, especially when it comes to the safety of young women.”
“We also hope it brings justice,” she added.
The grim allegations are another reminder of the potency of fentanyl, which is the primary driver of overdose deaths in America. They were the latest charges to be laid out against Mr. Freire and Mr. Cabrera, who were originally indicted in April on two counts of narcotics distribution, along with a third defendant, Harry Rosales Pino.
Mr. Freire and Mr. Cabrera have pleaded not guilty to those charges, while Mr. Pino pleaded guilty to one count of narcotics distribution resulting in death. On Thursday, Mr. Freire was also charged with distributing a controlled substance with the intent to commit rape.
Mr. Freire later told campus police that he had sex with one woman but did not realize she was passed out, according to prosecutors, who said he sexually assaulted her. Ariana L. Bloom, a federal prosecutor, said at an April hearing that it was difficult to fathom that Mr. Freire “didn’t know what was going on when he was having sex with the victim who was completely unconscious.”
Mitchell Schwartz, a lawyer for Mr. Freire, did not respond to a request for comment. But during the April hearing, he said that Mr. Freire and the victim who died had a “sexual relationship” for more than a year.
Mr. Schwartz, at the hearing, said that his client was not trying to trick the women. Over social media and in text messages, he said, Mr. Freire “was repeatedly asked by the decedent to acquire drugs for her.”
In an email to students and faculty on Thursday night, Jason Schupbach, the president of the university, referred to the new details released by prosecutors.
“In the months following the devastating passing of our community member, we ensured that safety protocols, training and security have been reviewed and enhanced,” Mr. Schupbach wrote.
Ms. Richter lived at Nagler Hall, an all-girls dormitory at F.I.T. She and her roommate had transferred to the university for the 2026 spring semester. Their futures appeared bright, with both women excited about attending a Broadway show shortly after arriving at the campus, and holding runway shows in the hallways of a neighboring F.I.T. dormitory. But there were signs of turmoil as well.
A friend and classmate, Sebastiana Bierk, said she remembered Ms. Richter having “a lot of life” and interests. But Ms. Bierk said she watched as Ms. Richter, in her first months at the university, “fell into the wrong crowd.”
“Bel was really nice, and she was naïve,” Ms Bierk, 19, said. “There’s beauty in being sober, there’s beauty in just hanging out,” she recalled texting Ms. Richter, in the weeks before she overdosed.
According to Mr. Freire’s lawyer, his client offered to bring Ms. Richter drugs like cocaine, Xanax and acid. The same week of the overdoses, she messaged Mr. Freire with a snowflake emoji, indicating she wanted cocaine, Mr. Schwartz said. Her roommate made the same request of him.
Before he arrived at the F.I.T. dorm on March 18, Mr. Freire knew the potency of the drug he was planning to bring, prosecutors said. Mr. Freire asked Mr. Cabrera to provide him with a drug that would “last the entire night,” prosecutors said.
About a week prior, Mr. Freire had tried the drug himself. He then told a friend over Instagram that he was trembling and feeling lightheaded, according to prosecutors.
“I don’t know what I got, but this isn’t coke,” he wrote. “It’s straight poison.”
Yet the night he visited, Mr. Freire insisted to the women that the drug was “pure” cocaine that he had brought from a trip to Mexico, according to prosecutors.
Both women ingested the drug. Shortly after, Mr. Freire was having sex with Ms. Richter on a bed when he opened his eyes and noticed she was motionless, according to a statement he gave campus police. But rather than notify the authorities, he took photos of the overdose victims and sent them to his friends, prosecutors said.
“These girls are unconscious, after just one line,” Mr. Freire texted his friends at 2:29 a.m., according to prosecutors. “They’re not moving.”
He did not seek help for another 40 minutes. When security finally arrived at the scene, after 3 a.m., they saw both women lying unconscious, prosecutors said. One was on the bed with no underwear.
Ms. Richter died on March 21. In a March 26 vigil, her friends from F.I.T. and Sarah Lawrence College — where she had transferred from — recalled her love of poetry and bands like Fleetwood Mac.
At Nagler Hall, many of her classmates had left flowers near a large laminated photo that showed a smiling Ms. Richter wearing pigtail braids and a pair of snap clip barrettes that swept the hair off her forehead.
Several students said on Thursday that word quickly spread across campus about the circumstances that led up to Ms. Richter’s death. For some, it was a reminder that their quiet block in the city was no safe haven.
“I know so many people who struggle with drugs and weird guys,” said Lila Palaza, 19, a sophomore, who is in the fashion design program, which Ms. Richter had just transferred into.
“As a young girl, it’s really easy to get wrapped up in things,” she added.
Sheelagh McNeill contributed research. Chelsia Rose Marcius and Hurubie Meko contributed reporting.
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