ROCKFORD, Mich. - A Rockford woman is accused of poisoning her roommate’s jar of tea by spiking it with prescription drugs.
Maria Pilar Mirque, 54, is charged with poisoning food/drink, a 15-year felony. The drugs involved are venlafaxine, an anti-depressant, and diphenhydramine, an antihistamine.
The victim told Rockford police she had video evidence of Mirque “pouring something into her jar of tea located in the refrigerator,’’ according to a probable cause affidavit.
She told police that Mirque was attending school to be a pharmacist, court records show.
The video was recorded last August at a home on Oak Street south of Ten Mile Road NE. The woman said Mirque knows she takes the tea jar with her to work each day.
The video shows Mirque removing the jar from the refrigerator and placing it on the counter, but it is difficult to tell if something was poured into the jar due to the camera angle, officer Ian Graham wrote in the probable cause affidavit.
"After Mirque spends a short period of time standing over the jar, you are able to see her place a clear glass onto the counter,'' Graham wrote. “Mirque then picks up the jar and places it back into the refrigerator without taking any drinks from the jar that she initially removed.’’
The jar of tea was sent to the Michigan State Police forensics lab for testing, which showed positive findings of venlafaxine and diphenhydramine.
Medications Mirque was prescribed “are consistent with the findings in the jar,’’ Graham wrote.
The officer consulted with a pharmacist at Family Fare in Rockford about the two medications detected in the tea.
“I asked if it was possible someone could overdose by consuming the two,’’ Graham wrote. The pharmacist said “you could with a large enough quantity. Other repercussions of taking the medications could be grogginess, fatigue and even seizures.’’
When Graham contacted Mirque via cell phone, she “ultimately said she was not willing to meet with me,’’ the officer wrote.
A warrant charging Mirque was authorized in mid-April and she was booked into the Kent County Jail on May 30. She has a probable cause conference later this month in 63rd District Court. Mirque is free on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
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