[Editor’s note: This press release arrived after the press deadline for the April 19 issue of the paper.]
A 27-year-old Bartlett man has been indicted on charges of second-degree murder for allegedly selling heroin laced with fentanyl that resulted in the death of an acquaintance last year, Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich said Tuesday.
Defendant Blake Nabors also was indicted on charges of sale of a controlled substance (fentanyl), unlawful possession of a controlled substance (fentanyl) with intent to sell, and unlawful possession of a controlled substance (fentanyl) with intent to deliver.
The victim was Samuel Baudean, 25, also of Bartlett.
Police were called to St. Francis Hospital in Bartlett in the early morning hours of March 23 last year where an unresponsive Baudean had been brought in by friends. Hospital personnel were unable to revive him. An investigation led to Nabors.
An autopsy showed the cause of death to be acute fentanyl intoxication. Fentanyl is a highly potent opioid that is up to 100 times stronger than morphine and many times stronger than heroin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The case is being handled by the Heroin Task Force of the offices of the DA and the U.S. Attorney. The Task Force now has at least 10 pending homicide cases involving opioid overdose deaths.
