GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Muskegon man has been charged in the overdose death of a Kent County woman, who died after snorting two lines of heroin that was laced with fentanyl.
The 43-year-old victim, a mother of three, died in her Oakfield Township home in November of 2019.
The Kent County Prosecutor’s Office authorized charges against 37-year-old David Michael Guest. He has a hearing scheduled for later this month in 63rd District Court.
Guest is charged with delivery of a controlled substance causing death, which is punishable by up to life in prison. He is also charged with delivery of heroin, a 20-year felony.
Guest, who has an address in Muskegon, is free on bond. He is one of five people prosecuted in Kent County this year for delivery of a controlled substance causing death.
Kent County in 2019 recorded 109 overdose deaths; more than half involved fentanyl.
“No question fentanyl is a huge problem, whether it’s straight fentanyl or in combination with some other drug,’’ Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said.
Kent County deputies on Nov. 30, 2019 responded to a home on Country Aire Drive NE on a report of a woman not breathing, according to court records.
Guest, who had been in a relationship with the woman, placed a call to 911 and attempted life-saving efforts, court records show.
He told Kent County detectives he bought heroin in Muskegon and, on his drive to Oakfield Township, stopped at a fast food restaurant and “shot up’’ heroin in the bathroom, court records show.
He then went to the home on Country Aire Drive and used his driver’s license to lay out two lines of heroin, which the victim then snorted. The woman “went unconscious shortly after,’’ according to court records.
An autopsy showed the woman died from acute heroin and fentanyl toxicity.
For 2020, Kent County has recorded 94 overdose deaths through the end of November; 27 cases are still pending.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.