Suspended Texas A&M professor denies saying Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick believes overdose victims “deserve to die”

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham on Wednesday accused Texas A&M University professor Joy Alonzo of telling students during a March lecture, “Your Lt. Governor says those kids deserve to die,” referring to Hays County students who have overdosed. Buckingham shared the claim against Alonzo with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, sparking an internal university investigation. (Credit: Kelly West for The Texas Tribune)

---

The Texas A&M University professor put on leave for allegedly criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick during a guest lecture this spring denied Wednesday that she accused Patrick of saying kids who died from opioid overdoses “deserve to die.”