Overdose case against Canton woman allowed to proceed
The case against a Canton Township woman who’s accused of causing the fatal overdose of a woman with whom she shared drugs was held for trial Tuesday.
Tiffany Sloneker, 33, appeared before District Judge David Mark for a preliminary hearing that occurred in Central Court in the Washington County Courthouse. Mark allowed a charge of drug delivery resulting in death and another of drug delivery to proceed to the county Court of Common Pleas.
The case stems from the March 5, 2017, death of Maria Lynne Frabell, 30, at her apartment on Ellis Avenue in Canton. Frabell’s stepfather found her after she didn’t arrive for work and Frabell’s employer called him.
Assistant District Attorney Rachel Wheeler said Frabell’s cause of death was found to be combined fentanyl and cocaine toxicity.
Kimberly Furmanek, who was appointed by the court to represent Sloneker as conflict counsel, said her client was a friend of the victim and a fellow addict.
“We’re dealing with two friends who bought some heroin and split it between them, and one of them, unfortunately, overdosed,” Furmanek said.
State police said in court papers that messages on Frabell’s phone showed Sloneker had allegedly bought 10 stamp bags of heroin and given half of them to Frabell earlier in the day before Frabell went home to get ready for work.
A syringe, white residue, straw and spoon were found under Frabell’s mattress in her apartment that day.
Trooper Douglas Rush, who filed the charges, and county Coroner Tim Warco testified during this week’s hearing.
If the case goes to trial, the prosecution wouldn’t have to show that Sloneker had any intent to kill Frabell in order to convict Sloneker of drug drug delivery resulting in death.
The government would have to demonstrate that Sloneker provided drugs that were the cause of Frabell’s lethal overdose later that day.
Furmanek said it wasn’t yet clear to her how the prosecution intends to do so.
She said her client dropped Frabell off and went home before Frabell took the drugs that killed her. She also said the only drug Sloneker allegedly admitted to buying when she spoke to police was the heroin.
“They haven’t sent any of the drug paraphernalia out for lab testing yet,” Furmanek added.
Sloneker faces unrelated, pending drug charges stemming from the Nov. 21 search of a mobile home elsewhere in Canton.
She’s being held in the county jail. Her bail is set at $125,000 total.