CLAY CITY — Investigation continues into the apparent overdose death of a Clay City teenager on New Year’s Day, and criminal charges against three fellow teens involved in the incident may not be finalized for a few days.
Haley Bryan, 17, was pronounced dead at St. Vincent Clay Hospital in Brazil shortly after 7:30 p.m. Friday. An investigation by the Clay County Sheriff’s Department has determined that Bryan and her three friends smoked fentanyl, a narcotic medication that is about 100 times more potent than morphine.
“We are waiting for autopsy reports and looking at the tox screen to see if there was anything else to cause the death” of Bryan, Sheriff Mike Heaton said
Monday afternoon.
An autopsy was to be conducted Monday by pathologist Dr. Roland Kohr at Terre Haute Regional Hospital. The toxicology results may not be available for a few weeks, Heaton said.
Police have arrested Jessie Allen Sowers, 18, and preliminarily charged him with dealing or delivering a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, conspiracy to commit theft, visiting a common nuisance and interfering or false reporting. All five charges are felonies. He is being held at the Clay County jail on $25,000 bail, with no 10 percent allowed.
The two other teens, a male and a female, both age 17, are being held in a juvenile detention facility, Heaton said. They were initially arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance.
Investigators worked through the weekend to piece together the chain of events that led to Bryan’s death, the sheriff said. It appears that the two males allegedly stole a fentanyl transdermal patch from an individual who was prescribed the patch for pain management. One of the males then allegedly removed the fentanyl from the patch and the four youths smoked it. Bryan showed signs of a narcotic overdose when she arrived at the hospital.
Heaton said it is believed that after Bryan lost consciousness and showed signs of an overdose that the three friends drove around the county roads in the Clay City and Bowling Green area for 40 to 60 minutes before deciding to take her to the hospital. Clay County 911 Dispatch did not receive any 911 calls about Bryan’s condition before her arrival at the hospital, the sheriff said, and phone records of her friends will be reviewed to see if a 911 call was made.
Heaton said that Bryan’s death is not the first fentanyl overdose his department has seen in the last year. A woman in the Lena area in northeastern Clay County died last summer after overdosing on a fentanyl patch she had stolen.
People should realize how potent the drug is, the sheriff said, and those with a prescription should make sure to keep the drug secure from theft or misuse.
Bryan’s family visited with Heaton on Monday at the sheriff’s department to follow the investigation’s course.
“The family wants closure and to stay informed,” Heaton said. “They want to know what happened.”
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
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