Police: Johnstown man supplied fentanyl in fatal overdose
Feb. 24—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A Johnstown man was jailed Thursday after city detectives alleged that he supplied the fentanyl that killed a woman last month at Town House Towers.
Detective Mark Britton filed charges of drug delivery resulting in death, reckless endangerment and drug possession against Ricky Dean Mitchell, 62, who has an address at Town House Towers in the 400 block of Vine Street in downtown Johnstown.
According to a complaint affidavit, city police, firefighters and 7th Ward EMS personnel were called on Jan. 3 to a Town House Towers apartment for a report of a person in cardiac arrest. They found a woman who was blue and cold to the touch, the affidavit stated. An autopsy allegedly showed the woman died from acute fentanyl poisoning.
Police said they found Mitchell passed out in a chair in the living room area of the woman's apartment. He allegedly denied using narcotics after he was revived with Narcan. He was allegedly found in possession of two stamp bags, two cellphones and a set of keys with what police described as a "tool" used to ingest narcotics.
In an interview at the Public Safety Building, Mitchell allegedly told police that he gave a "line" of fentanyl to the woman after she told him she was having trouble sleeping. Mitchell said he then returned to his own apartment and tried to call the woman to check on her, but she was not answering her phone, according to the affidavit.
Mitchell later called Cambria County 911 to say the woman was not moving, according to the affidavit.
Mitchell was arraigned by on-call District Judge Susan Gindlesperger, of Stonycreek Township, and sent to Cambria County Prison after failing to post 10% of $250,000 bond.
