LACEY – An alleged dealer is being charged in the death of a local woman who died of a drug overdose, police said.
Jehmar Barrett, 34, of Lacey, was charged in the death of an unnamed 35-year-old woman who died of an overdose in Toms River.
He is being charged with Strict Liability Drug Induced Death, which means that officers believe that he provided the drugs which she used to overdose.
The woman was found dead on November 24, 2020 in an Alabama Avenue home, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and Toms River Township Police Chief Mitchell Little. Investigators said they learned that Barrett allegedly sold her heroin and cocaine on November 23.
He had been charged on November 24 with Distribution of Heroin, Distribution of Cocaine, Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin, Possession of Heroin, Possession of Cocaine, and Eluding.
The new charge of Strict Liability Drug Induced Death comes from lab analysis, police said. The heroin sold to the victim turned out to be Fentanyl, which matched the Fentanyl in the victim’s system.
Prosecutor Billhimer and Chief Little thanked the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, Toms River Township Police Department Detective Bureau, Toms River Township Police Department Patrol Division, Berkeley Township Police Department, Lacey Township Police Department, Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, for their collaborative efforts in connection with this investigation.
Charges are merely accusations until proven in a court of law.
