Metro

The city man accused of providing the drugs that led to an overdose death in late April had all charges against him bound to the court of common pleas following a preliminary hearing in Blair County Central Court on Wednesday.

Danny Lee Caldwell Jr., 37, is facing single felony counts of drug delivery resulting in death, possession with intent to deliver and criminal use of a communication facility, as well as single misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He remains in custody at the Blair County Prison in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Altoona Police Officer Zachary Nealen was the only person to testify during the proceedings. Nealen said he was dispatched to a residence along the 1900 block of 11th Street for an overdose and was first on scene, while AMED arrived shortly after.

Nealen said Caldwell was the 911 caller and directed him to the victim’s body. Caldwell had administered five doses of Narcan to the victim and attempted other lifesaving measures to no avail, Nealen said.

“She was completely unresponsive, cold, pale and her eyes were wide open,” Nealen said. “There was vomit on the floor.”

Nealen said AMED continued lifesaving measures while officers escorted Caldwell outside the residence’s back door.

When asked about Caldwell’s behavior at the scene by his attorney, Interim Chief Public Defender Julia Burke, Nealen said Caldwell was “frantic” and “sincerely trying to help.”

Caldwell “wasn’t trying to obfuscate things,” Nealen said.

After administering the Narcan, Caldwell told Nealen he tried to call for help but his phone wasn’t working, so he used the victim’s phone.

Caldwell was then taken into custody and a search warrant was obtained for the residence. Nealen said officers located Caldwell and the victim’s cellphones, $191 in cash in the victim’s purse, a “waxy, tarry” substance believed to be heroin wrapped in paper in the victim’s purse, a needle containing a “reddish-brown substance” Nealen believed “to be blood” under the bedroom’s coffee table, a blue glassine packet and a zip-top bag containing a small amount of white powder.

Burke then questioned if the search turned up any other used drug paraphernalia, to which Nealen said not that he could recall.

A forensic analysis performed on both Caldwell’s and the victim’s cellphones indicated the victim messaged Caldwell a few days before the overdose asking to stay with him a few days and where she could get narcotics like fentanyl or xylazine, Nealen said.

The day before the overdose, messages, message timestamps and Uber timestamps showed the pair traveled to a residence to purchase drugs in Claysburg, Nealen said.

When questioned by Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Thomas, Nealen said the victim was pronounced brain dead on April 26, with her cause of death listed as a “multi-drug overdose” following an autopsy.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, the victim had 4.7 ng/mL of fentanyl, 5.5 ng/mL of xylazine and 2,700 ng/mL of methamphetamine in her system when she died.

Burke asked if this meant the amount of meth in the victim’s system was “vastly greater” than the other drugs, to which Nealen said, “according to those numbers, yes.”

During closing arguments, Burke said the felony drug delivery resulting in death and possession with intent to deliver charges were counts “too speculative to allow to proceed.”

Burke said Caldwell administered Narcan and attempted other lifesaving measures, but there was a “massive quantity of meth” in the victim’s system.

“We don’t know when other substances were introduced,” Burke said. “Unfortunately, these other substances are extremely prevalent in Pennsylvania, especially in Harrisburg, where the victim is from.”

Thomas argued that the victim contacted Caldwell to obtain drugs and rode in the Uber with him for those drugs.

“The testimony was quite clear,” Thomas said.

Magisterial District Judge Daniel C. DeAntonio cited the text messages when saying the Commonwealth had met its burden of proof to send all charges to the court of common pleas.

Caldwell’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 5.

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