Milwaukee man charged with reckless homicide in West Allis man's fatal overdose of 2022
(This story was updated to add new information.)
A Milwaukee man is facing a first-degree reckless homicide charge for providing drugs that led to a fatal overdose on Christmas Eve 2022 in West Allis.
Lateet Davis, 27, is facing the felony charge through Wisconsin's Len Bias law . He's accused of delivering drugs to a man ― later identified by the Milwaukee Medical's Office as as 61-year-old James Loduha ― who died after taking them. If convicted, Davis could face up to 40 years in prison and a fine up to $100,000.
West Allis police did a welfare check on Loduha after his family grew concerned about his whereabouts
According to the criminal complaint:
On Dec. 31, 2022, West Allis police officers were dispatched to Loduha's home near West 93rd Street and West National Avenue for a welfare check after his children reported they had not heard from their father for at least a week.
When officers arrived, they found Loduha deceased inside the one-bedroom apartment.
An officer saw a white rock-like substance and a small handmade foil pipe on the television stand near the victim. The officer found a second homemade foil pipe in the garbage.
A small amount of the white substance taken from the scene later tested positive as cocaine.
An autopsy conducted on Loduha later determined that he had been dead since Dec. 24; the cause of death was acute mixed ethanol and cocaine toxicity, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.
On Jan. 12, 2023, police set up a fake drug deal to arrest Davis
Officers later reviewed Loduha's phone and found that he had been in contact with a phone number that was later determined to belong to Davis. Tracing the phone, police discovered that Davis' phone had pinged to a cell tower near Loduha's residence on Dec. 24.
On Jan. 12, 2023, police set up an operation to arrest Davis by using Loduha's phone to contact him.
Police texted Davis' phone at 10:05 a.m. requesting $100 worth of narcotics. Davis immediately responded that he would arrive at Loduha's apartment later that day.
Based on communication from Davis, he was unaware that Loduha had died. Once police set up in the area of the victim's apartment, police resumed the text conversation with Davis at 2 p.m. after not hearing from him for 53 minutes. Police asked him when he would arrive to the location. Davis replied "Here" immediately after.
At 2:01 p.m., Davis arrived at Loduha's apartment in a white Hyundai. Police noted that Davis was never given a location by the officer posing as the victim on where to meet.
Davis attempted to flee from officers once he discovered he was about to be arrested
Undercover police officers drove east on West National Avenue and passed Davis' vehicle, identifying Davis as the driver. Davis then confirmed to police via text that he was in front of the residence in a white car.
After verifying his identity, officers moved in to arrest Davis, who then pulled out onto West National Avenue in an attempt to drive west. One officer drove into Davis's bumper to attempt to stop him, but Davis managed to get away and turned his vehicle around to face east on West National Avenue, striking a police vehicle in the process and causing its airbags to deploy.
SWAT team personnel arrested Davis at 2:03 p.m. Inside Davis' vehicle, police found 11 oxycodone hydrochloride pills, a black semi-automatic handgun, a Verizon flip phone and a black iPhone.
When searching Davis at the West Allis Police Department, officers found a baggie of an off-white substance and a baggie of a green leafy substance — which later tested as cocaine and fentanyl and marijuana, respectively.
Davis is due to make his initial court appearance on Dec. 19.
What is the Len Bias Law?
Len Bias was a standout basketball player who played at the University of Maryland and who was often compared to his rival and future NBA hall-of-famer Michael Jordan.
On June 17, 1986, Bias was selected by the Boston Celtics as the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft. Two days later, Bias died from an accidental cocaine overdose in his dorm room.
After his death and the outrage that sparked from it, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act in 1986, which included homicide charges for dealers tied to overdose deaths, as well as harsh minimum mandatory sentences for other drug crimes and extensive forfeiture provisions.
States, including Wisconsin, then adopted similar laws.
For the first time in six years, Milwaukee County is seeing a decline in overdose deaths in 2024, according to county health officials.
The county is testing a pilot version of a new system from the state Department of Health Services called Wisconsin Suspected Overdose Alerts for Rapid Response, or WiSOARR, which provides public health partners near real-time data on where and when suspected overdoses are happening.
Contact Adrienne Davis at amdavis@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @AdriReportss.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man charged with felony in West Allis man's fatal overdose
