LITTLE EGG HARBOR – Police said that two people provided a 16-year-old boy the heroin and fentanyl that caused him to die of an overdose.
David Belk, 45, and Stephanie O’Neill, 44, both of Little Egg Harbor, were charged with Strict Liability Drug Induced Death. This is a charge made against people when police suspect they supplied the drugs that caused someone’s death. They were both also charged with Possession of Heroin, Possession of Heroin with Intent to Distribute, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
Belk was apprehended on August 27 in Atlantic City by the New Jersey Transit Police. At the time of his apprehension, Belk was found to be in possession of Heroin and was charged accordingly. Belk was processed at Little Egg Harbor Township Police Headquarters and transported to the Ocean County Jail where he will remain lodged pending a detention hearing
The teenager was found unresponsive at an East Susquehanna Drive home on July 3. He was taken to Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, where he passed away.
Officers said they linked the death to the two suspects due to toxicology of the victim and other investigations.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer and Captain James Hawkins from Little Egg commended the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, Little Egg Harbor Township Police Department Detective Bureau, Little Egg Harbor Township Police Department Patrol Division, Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, for their collaborative efforts in connection with this investigation.
The charges referenced above are merely accusations until proved guilty in a court of law.
