Chartiers Township woman to stand trial in Cecil man’s drug overdose death
A Chartiers Township woman will stand trial on charges accusing her of selling a deadly batch of fentanyl-laced heroin to a Cecil Township man last year.
Alyssia Faust, 40, appeared in Washington County Central Court on Friday and agreed to waive her right to a preliminary hearing on felony charges of drug delivery resulting in death and possession with intent to deliver in connection with the September death of 31-year-old Caleb Buttolph.
Buttolph had been dead for nearly two days when his body was discovered by a family member on the floor near a couch in the detached garage of his Swihart Road home in Cecil Township on Sept. 17. Buttolph died of fentanyl toxicity, according to the Washington County coroner.
Cecil Township police said they found near Buttolph’s body a heroin kit and two empty stamp bags with residue that later tested positive for fentanyl and xylazine. Police also took Buttolph’s cellphone and found a string of texts on July 30 from a person named “Lyssia” referencing “dips,” which is slang for heroin, along with additional conversations on Aug. 3 and Aug. 19 discussing drugs, according to court documents.
Buttolph again texted the phone number on Sept. 15 asking to meet Faust, according to court documents, and bank records showed he sent $20 to her through an online payment app.
Investigators later called Faust and she admitted to knowing Buttolph while the two worked at a local convenience store, although sometimes they would associate outside of work. Faust allegedly admitted to police that Buttolph picked her up on Sept. 15 and she sold him two stamp bags with markings identical to the ones found near his body, according to court documents.
Cecil Township police worked in conjunction with the Washington County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force investigating the case and charged Faust on Jan. 15. She was arraigned on the felony charges a week later by District Judge Louis McQuillan, and is being held at the Washington County jail on $100,000 bond. She is also facing one misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment in connection with the drug overdose death.