Providence woman pleads guilty to manslaughter for providing 'lethal cocktail of narcotics'

Jack Perry, Providence Journal
Updated ·2 min read
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A Providence woman was sentenced to serve three to five years in prison Friday after she pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for providing "a lethal cocktail of narcotics" to a 61-year-old Massachusetts man, according to the district attorney for Bristol County, Massachusetts.

Emily Velez, 31, also neglected to call for help as Dennis Heelen overdosed in North Attleboro and left him incapacitated, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said in a news release.

According to Quinn, Velez was arrested for shoplifting at about 6 p.m. on Nov. 24, 2021, at a Walmart in Warwick. Soon after the arrest, she told the police they should check on Heelen because she had used fentanyl with him earlier that day, and he was not responsive when she left him at 10 a.m., Quinn said.

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She also told the police she had taken Heelen's car, cellphone and wallet when she left his house, Quinn said. She had used his Discover card, too.

At about 7 p.m., the police in North Attleboro went to Heelen's house and found him dead in his bed. The police found a plastic baggie with fentanyl residue in his bedroom trash can. The medical examiner found that Heelen died from acute intoxication from the combined effects of alcohol, fentanyl, cocaine and oxycodone, Quinn said.

Quinn said Velez's "intentional failure to call for help was wanton and reckless and caused the victim’s death. In aggravation of her conduct, the defendant left the victim to die while stealing his car, cellphone and wallet as she fled to Rhode Island."

Heelen, a former resident of Walpole, Massachusetts, was the father of two and worked as a trackman, according to his obituary.

In addition to involuntary manslaughter, Velez pleaded guilty to larceny of a motor vehicle and larceny over $250 of a person above the age of 60, Quinn said. She was sentenced by Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Thomas Perrino, who also ordered her to serve one year of supervised probation following her release.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Emily Velez of Providence pleads guilty to manslaughter