Holloway Charged In Fatal Drug Overdose Case
Staff Report
Shane Ashley Holloway
SYRACUSE — A Syracuse man is facing a new criminal charge for dealing drugs to a woman who overdosed and passed away.
Shane Ashley Holloway, 53, 306 W. Valleyview Drive, Syracuse, is charged with dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death, a level 1 felony; and possession of methamphetamine and maintaining a common nuisance, both level 6 felonies.
On Aug. 25, medical personnel responded to a residence in Syracuse regarding a report of an unresponsive woman, who was later pronounced dead. The woman was identified as Nicole Coburn, 41, Syracuse.
According to court documents, while responding to the residence, officers found drug paraphernalia in a bathroom. Holloway, Charles R. Losee, and Robert C. McKibben were all at the home upon officers’ arrival. Losee told officers he found Coburn in the residence’s bathroom.
All three men refused consent for the residence to be searched but Holloway agreed to speak with law enforcement.
Holloway said Coburn was in the bathroom when he came home. He said this was odd because Losee typically drove Coburn to work around that time. Losee then called Holloway and asked where Coburn was. When Losee asked to speak with Coburn, Holloway went to the bathroom door and attempted to talk with Coburn, but didn’t receive a reply.
Losee then came to the residence, and both Losee and Holloway broke into the bathroom. The two men found Coburn unresponsive. Losee began CPR while Holloway called 911.
In his interview, Holloway said several times it took medical personnel 30 minutes to get to the scene. However, a 911 call log showed it only took EMS seven minutes to get there. Holloway would also occasionally evade officers’ questions by telling non-pertinent stories about how good a person he was.
Holloway also said no one spoke openly about drugs in the home and that he had never seen anyone in the residence use drugs.
Upon obtaining a search warrant for the home, officers found drug paraphernalia with marijuana residue and a hotel key card that tested positive for meth. In the bathroom, officers found an aluminum strip with burnt fentanyl residue.
An autopsy on Aug. 27 showed Coburn’s cause of death was drug intoxication via fentanyl, and the manner of death was ruled accidental.
Officers obtained a search warrant for Holloway’s cellphone. In the cellphone, officers found a conversation beginning on Aug. 24 and continuing through Aug. 25. The conversation involved Holloway and a woman discussing the woman delivering something to Holloway.
On Sept. 19, law enforcement spoke with the woman, who said she borrowed Holloway’s vehicle to go to South Bend and purchase fentanyl. The woman left the fentanyl in Holloway’s vehicle and described the bag it was in. The bag description matched a bag found in the residence on Aug. 25. The woman also said Holloway told her he provided Coburn with fentanyl.
Officers spoke with Losee on Oct. 25, who said he knew the fentanyl Coburn took came from Holloway and that he was upset because Holloway had left Coburn by herself.
Holloway was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Nov. 27.
For this case, McKibben has a change of plea hearing at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 18, in Kosciusko Circuit Court. Losee has a pretrial conference at 3 p.m. Jan. 8, 2024.
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