Man indicted on manslaughter charges in fatal overdose

A Sandusky man has been indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges related to the death of a Port Clinton woman who overdosed on laced heroin in October.

Daniel Evans, 29, faces additional felony charges of corrupting another with drugs and four additional counts of aggravated drug trafficking in the death of Sarah Hetrick, 31, according to Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter.

"We took this case on through the Ottawa County Drug Task Force because the alleged drug transaction between Evans and Hetrick took place in Erie County," Baxter said.

Baxter said the indictment alleges that Evans sold Hetrick a mix of heroin laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opiate analgesic more potent than morphine. Hetrick overdosed Oct. 11 and died after attempts to save her life failed. Hetrick was taken to Magruder Hospital in Port Clinton where she was pronounced dead.

Two other men, Jeremy Pitts, 38, of Lacarne, and Steven Phillips, 32, of Port Clinton, were charged with involuntary manslaughter as a result of an investigation conducted by Ottawa County Sheriff's Office Detective Joel Barton. Because of their cooperation during the investigation, Ottawa County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan dropped charges against Pitts and Phillips.

Barton said Pitts called Phillips at 12:56 a.m. Oct. 11 telling him that he needed to come to his house in Lacarne due to an emergency. According to the report, when he received the call Phillips did not think it was "really an emergency."

Phillips arrived at Pitts' residence in the 5500 block of West Erie Street about 30 minutes after the call. He told police that he saw Hetrick on the floor and that she was hardly breathing, but Pitts told him he didn't want to contact emergency medical services or law enforcement.

About 45 minutes later, Pitts put Hetrick in a vehicle and Phillips began driving her to the hospital. Phillips said as soon as he got in the vehicle, he called 911 at 2:16 a.m. to report the overdose. The vehicle was pulled over by an Ohio Highway Patrol officer for speeding and EMS was dispatched to the scene.

More than an hour passed between the first call Pitts made to Phillips and Phillips' 911 call. Phillips told detectives he thought Hetrick could have been saved if EMS would have been called earlier.

Published by the portclintonnewsherald.com

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