Local Man To Be Sentenced Thursday In Fatal Drug Overdose Case
By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews
Jeffery Prater
WARSAW — A local man will be sentenced at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, May 28, after administering heroin to a man who died as a result of a drug overdose almost two years ago.
Jeffery Prater, 50, Warsaw, is charged with dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death, a level 1 felony; and possession of a narcotic drug and maintaining a common nuisance, both level 6 felonies.
On June 12, 2018, a Silver Lake Police officer responded to a report of a drug overdose at an unspecified residence. Upon arrival, the officer saw medical technicians performing CPR on Adam Arnett, 56, Akron. Two occupants of the residence were present during the overdose, including Prater. CPR was performed for about 30 minutes before Arnett was pronounced dead.
Kosciusko County Coroner Tony Ciriello arrived and obtained blood samples from Arnett. The samples were sent to AXIS forensic toxicology for examination. Ciriello learned that Arnett died from an overdose of Citalopram, morphine and Alprazolam.
According to court documents, morphine therapeutic levels should be between 10 and 80 nanograms per milliliter; and therapeutic levels for Citalopram are between 10 to 120 nanograms per milliliter. According to the toxicology report, the morphine and Citalopram levels in Arnett’s body were at 193 and 363 nanograms per milliliter, respectively.
On June 28, 2018, an officer spoke with a person who was at Prater’s residence at the time of the overdose. The person witnessed Prater prepare a syringe with heroin. Before the injection took place, Arnett admitted to taking several Xanak. The person told Prater not to inject Arnett because he thought it may cause an adverse reaction. After Prater injected the drug, Arnett fell asleep and suddenly stopped breathing. Prater then began to clean the residence of any drug use while a woman at the scene performed CPR.
Prater also has a pending case for dealing in a narcotic drug and possession of a narcotic drug, which is also set for sentencing on Thursday, May 28.
