GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A convicted drug dealer is now accused of providing a mixture of heroin and fentanyl that led to the overdose death of a 42-year-old woman in her mother’s basement last December.
Martae Dejon Manning, 29, of Grand Rapids, is charged with delivery of a controlled substance causing death.
A judge this week determined there was enough evidence to send the case against Manning to Kent County Circuit Court.
“I want every citizen to know we take these cases very seriously,’’ Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young said. “And we will do everything we can to hold those responsible accountable.’’
Manning is one of at least three people charged this year by the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office for delivery of a controlled substance causing death. The felony offense is punishable by up to life in prison.
The first case was filed in January for a deadly overdose that happened at a Grand Rapids home last fall. The other case was filed in March for a Cascade Township overdose death in July of 2019. Fentanyl was involved in those cases.
Kent County in 2019 logged 109 overdose deaths; fentanyl played a role in more than half.
“I would say the most lethal combination is fentanyl and heroin, though we see them sometimes separately,’’ Kent County Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Cohle said. “Oftentimes fentanyl is sold as heroin because it’s a white powder.’’
Kent County deputies were called to a home on Sunnyside Street NE in Plainfield Township back in December after a woman found her daughter unresponsive in a basement bedroom.
Investigators used cellphone records to zero in on Manning as the dealer. He’s been in the Kent County Jail since Dec. 10 on other charges; a warrant charging Manning with delivery of a controlled substance causing death was filed in late July.
During a preliminary hearing this week in 63rd District Court, defense attorney Jeffrey P. Kirchhoff asked that the charge be dismissed. “This is about as thin of a case as I’ve ever seen in 40 years of doing this,’’ Kirchhoff said.
Judge Jeffrey O‘Hara disagreed and moved the case to Kent County Circuit Court.
Collecting enough evidence to charge a suspected drug dealer in an overdose death is labor-intensive, LaJoye-Young said.
“The last time we actually counted the hours on one of these cases, it was over 2,000 hours to help prepare a case and bring it to the prosecutor’s office,’’ she said. “It does take a lot of legwork.’’
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