When Joshua Price died in May from a deadly injection of heroin, he became yet another grim statistic of those killed by opioid overdoses in Kent County this year.
For the first six months of 2016, Kent County has recorded 47 overdose deaths; nearly a third are attributed to heroin. Another 22 deaths are under investigation.
"I’ve never seen anything like this,’’ said Kent County Sheriff’s Detective Jason Russo, who investigated Price’s death. “We have deputies throughout the county who are responding to heroin overdoses now on a weekly basis, where it used to be every several months.’’
Two people arrested for their roles in Price’s death appeared Wednesday in 63rd District Court. His wife, 42-year-old Bonnie Lee Price, is charged with delivery of heroin, a 20-year felony. Police say she bought $60 of heroin in Grand Rapids which ultimately ended up in her husband’s arm.
Her co-defendant and friend, 29-year-old Jordan-Luke Vandenbosch, faces a more serious charge of delivery of a controlled substance causing death. It carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The two face an additional charge of tampering with evidence, a four-year offense. Kent County investigators say Vandenbosch cleaned up drugs and drug paraphernalia while waiting for rescuers to arrive.
They also tossed Joshua Price’s cell phone into a trash bin at a Meijer store on Alpine Avenue NW to get rid of suspected text messages about illegal drugs, court documents show.
A probable cause affidavit used to charge the pair paints a disturbing picture of what happened inside the Price home on 17 Mile Road west of Myers Lake Avenue NE near Cedar Springs.
Bonnie Price admitted to giving Vandenbosch the heroin, which he then mixed and put into three syringes. Vandenbosch injected Price and believes he then injected her husband and himself, court records show.
“Bonnie Price admitted that she had made a video recording of Joshua Price after he had been injected with heroin, which showed him to be in a distressed breathing state,’’ Russo, the Kent County detective, wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “Bonnie Price also admitted to calling several friends attempting to find Narcan.’’
Narcan, or naloxone, is a drug that can reverse an opiate overdose instantly. A growing number of police agencies now carry it as standard equipment.
Bonnie Price told investigators she called 911 after her husband stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital. An autopsy lists the cause of death acute heroin toxicity.
“At least call 911 knowing that the first responders and police cars have that stuff,’’ Russo said outside of court on Wednesday. “Even if you’re a user, we understand that there is fear out there with law enforcement being involved, but, you know, Narcan is available. First responders have it in their patrol cars.’’
Heroin, Russo said, has become a priority among illegal drug investigations in Kent County.
“We’re definitely targeting heroin use, heroin dealers,’’ Russo said. “Heroin, unfortunately is easier to buy on the streets than marijuana by the sounds of it. And it’s much cheaper.’’
State lawmakers in 2006 passed a law making it a felony to deliver a controlled substance causing death. Prosecutions are rare; it was last used by the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office two years ago in a fatal methadone overdose.
James Earl Gardner was convicted of selling methadone pills to a 22-year-old Kentwood man who died of a fatal overdose in Nov. 2012. Charges were filed in 2014.
Gardner, now 69, was sentenced to between two and 30 years in prison. He was released on parole two months ago.
Federal prosecutors earlier this month charged a 29-year-old Kent County man with delivery of fentanyl causing death.
Chad Hiler, 29, is accused of providing fentanyl that led to the overdose death of a 21-year-old friend in Kent County’s Cannon Township in December, 2014. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid often abused by addicts.
More than a third of Kent County’s 75 overdose deaths in 2014 were due heroin or fentanyl.
That case was also investigated by the Kent County Sheriff’s Department. If convicted, the former gas station employee faces a mandatory term of 20 years in prison.