Metro

A city woman implicated in the March overdose death of a 32-year-old man waived her right to a preliminary hearing in Blair County Central Court on Wednesday, sending all charges against her to the court of common pleas.

Casandra Michelle Williams, 43, is facing single felony counts of drug delivery resulting in death, dealing in unlawful proceeds, knowledge that property are the proceeds of an illegal act, criminal use of a communication facility and possession with intent to deliver, as well as single misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person and possession of a controlled substance. She remains housed at the Blair County Prison on $250,000 bail.

The charges were brought after a monthslong investigation into a call for an unresponsive male at an apartment building along the 800 block of Lexington Avenue on March 22. Officers found the victim cold to the touch, with no pulse and holding a hypodermic needle with an empty heroin wax packet nearby. On his person were three wax packets containing suspected heroin, three empty heroin wax packets, suspected heroin, other drug paraphernalia and the victim’s cellphone, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

An autopsy report listed the victim’s cause of death as acute fentanyl toxicity, which led to cardiac arrest.

Surveillance footage obtained from across the street from the crime scene showed a vehicle then arriving about 6 p.m. and a woman, later identified as Williams, exiting before going into the building, the police report states.

In an interview, Williams admitted to using controlled substances with the victim in the past but denied selling him heroin on March 22. When officers asked Williams how she and the victim communicated for these drug deals, she said they mainly used Facebook Messenger. She then refused officers’ request for her phone’s passcode, so her phone was seized pending a search warrant for its contents, the report states.

Officers also interviewed the witness, who said Williams told him if officers uncovered the messages between her and the victim, she would be criminally charged with his death. On April 22, officers were given a download review of Williams’ cellphone, which showed several communication threads organizing and conducting drug transactions across numerous dates. These included deals involving various individuals, including the victim on March 22, the report states.

Williams was already in custody at the Blair County Prison on $250,000 bail for a separate case in which she was caught in an April drug bust allegedly trafficking over a half pound of methamphetamine, 13 grams of fentanyl, 42 pre-packaged wax packets of fentanyl,

31 morphine pills, four grams of cocaine and 23 grams of marijuana through the city. The value of the drugs were estimated to be about $33,000.

In that case, she faces six felony counts each of conspiracy possession with intent to deliver and possession with intent to deliver, a single felony count of attempting to elude an officer, 15 misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person, six misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and a single misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.