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A Roaring Spring woman is behind bars after police said she provided the drugs that led to the overdose death of her boyfriend in August.
Tara Lynn Appleman, 39, was arraigned Monday before Magisterial District Judge Matthew Dunio on felony charges of drug delivery resulting in death, possession with intent to deliver and criminal use of a communication facility along with a misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person.
Unable to post $150,000 bail, she was remanded to the Blair County Prison. Her preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 26 before Dunio.
According to court documents, Logan Township police were dispatched at 11:36 a.m. Aug. 9 to a home on the 1400 block of Mill Run Road for an unresponsive male.
Police began lifesaving measures at the scene until AMED arrived and took over, the report states. The man was transported to UPMC Altoona, where he was later pronounced dead.
While at the home, police noticed an unmarked pill container on the front passenger seat of the victim's car. In addition, a blue empty heroin packet, a snort straw with powder residue and the victim's cellphone were also observed on the seat, the report states.
The items were seized as evidence and a search warrant was secured for the phone.
During the investigation, the victim's brother told police the victim was staying with him in an attempt to detox and get sober. The brother said Appleman supplied his brother with heroin in the past, and she was always contacting him to visit her.
In a search of the phone, police found conversations between Appleman and the victim, with Appleman stating she didn't know why he wanted to quit.
"Ur not going to die from it if u don't OD," she wrote to the victim.
On Aug. 8, via Facebook Messenger, the victim asked Appleman, "Can I come get some" and "Please," court documents state.
Appleman replied "U know I'll give u some."
Police received the coroner's report on Sept. 26, stating that the victim died of a fentanyl overdose.
Police contacted Appleman on Sept. 27 using the phone number saved under her name on the victim's phone. Appleman verified it was her, the report states, thus verifying that the conversation was indeed made between her and the victim.
On Oct. 11, police again contacted Appleman, who said she obtained an attorney,
Appleman was taken into custody on Oct. 16 at her home in Roaring Spring. While on scene, officers observed hypodermic needles in plain view. Officers also observed that a juvenile male was an occupant of the residence and that the hypodermic needles were easily accessible to the juvenile, according to the Logan Township Police Department's Facebook page.
With this information, police obtained and executed a search warrant which turned up 128 packets of heroin/fentanyl valued at $2,560, 5 grams of methamphetamine valued at $500, a functioning digital scale and cash. Also located were hundreds of empty heroin bags and dozens of hypodermic needles.
In addition to the charges related to the overdose death, Appleman will face two counts of possession with intent to distribute, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and possession of drug paraphernalia.
She is awaiting arraignment on the additional charges, the post states.