Autopsy reports confirm Ohio State students died of fentanyl overdoses

Autopsy reports released by the Franklin County Coroner’s office confirm that two Ohio State University students died from fentanyl overdoses and their deaths have been ruled accidental.

The autopsy reports for the deaths of 21-year-old Tiffany Iler and 22-year-old Jessica Lopez were released Tuesday afternoon to The Dispatch in response to a public records request.

On May 4, Columbus police and fire crews were called to a duplex on the first block of East Lane Avenue after a woman reported to a 911 dispatcher that she came downstairs to find her roommate and one of her roommate’s friends unresponsive and a white substance on the counter. A third Ohio State student, a 21-year-old female, was convulsing and having shortness of breath.

According to the autopsy reports, Lopez died at 6:22 a.m. on May 5 at Ohiohealth Grant Medical Center. Iler died about 14 hours later, at 8:40 p.m., at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. The third female, who has not been identified, survived.

The autopsies — which were conducted by the Montgomery County Coroner’s office under agreement with Franklin County — said Iler and Lopez both had ingested fentanyl, which caused their deaths.

Authorities believe the three women took what they thought was a generic form of Adderall, a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that has for years been popular among college and university students who use it to stay up and cram for exams. Lopez, of Greendale, Indiana, was a major in computer and information science and wrote in an OSU profile that she liked to make crafts, run and read in her free time. Her family was originally from Mexico.

Iler, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, was working on a bachelor’s of science degree in neuroscience and was pre-med, scheduled to graduate in 2023. Iler’s Linkedin page showed she was a member of the Delta Zeta sorority and volunteered with organizations like Meals on Wheels, the American Red Cross and Buckeyethon.

Columbus police are continuing to investigate the overdose deaths. Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 614-645-4545. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner