A young man who used to be a student at the University of Massachusetts is now facing charges after another student—who also happened to be an informant for the police department—passed away.
The young man who passed away had been caught with drugs back in 2012. The police thought he was selling both LSD and Molly to other students. In order to avoid any penalties, the young man agreed to start working with police as they tried to track down and arrest another student who they also thought was a drug dealer.
Because of this arrangement, the young man also never had to tell his parents what he was doing.
Now, that man has passed away. On parents week, his body was found in his dorm room, and he appears to have died due to an overdose of heroin. The police did discover a hypodermic needle that was in the room.
The man's mother now says that the police missed out on an easy chance to save her son's life by not doing more the first time.
After the death, the second student was arrested. Police want to charge him with both distributing heroin and with involuntary manslaughter. He is 27 years old. The arrest was made on Monday, September 28.
When a complex set of circumstances leads to an arrest, it's important for those who have been accused to know exactly what they are being charged with and what legal options they have in the face of those charges. Everyone deserves a fair trial, and everyone has a right to his or her day in court.
Source: Boston.com, "Former UMass student charged in death of campus drug informant," Lloyd Mallison, Sep. 29, 2015