Derrise Lamon Townsend, Jr. (Photo courtesy: Wisconsin Department of Corrections)
WARNING: This story contains details that may not be suitable for all readers.
FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Milwaukee man has been sentenced to prison for a fentanyl overdose death in Fond du Lac County.
Judge Anthony Nehls sentenced Derrise Townsend, 23, to eight years in prison followed by seven years on extended supervision in court Monday.
Townsend was convicted in August of one count of first-degree reckless homicide/deliver drugs.
According to the criminal complaint, deputies and emergency medical personnel were dispatched to a home in the township of Metomen on May 8, 2020.
The victim’s parents reported their 24-year-old son “was not breathing or conscious and was cold and stiff” and “had what appeared to be vomit and blood coming from his nose and mouth.” He was pronounced dead at the scene.
In speaking with the victim’s parents, authorities learned the man had a long history of drug use and had started using heroin at the age of 16.
Using cell phone records, investigators found hundreds of messages and phone calls exchanged between the victim and a contact that were consistent with drug transactions. That contact was later identified as Townsend Jr., who was 18 years old at the time.
“It appeared that VICTIM 1 was purchasing from [Townsend Jr.] and traveling to his location which was believed to be in Milwaukee,” the complaint says.
Investigators discovered the victim and Townsend Jr. had met and been housed together while they were in the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility.
Townsend faces another reckless homicide charge in Milwaukee County. He is due in court Dec. 12 in that case.
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