Couple charged in man's West York drug death

Police say a West York couple waited hours before calling 911 after a friend of theirs — who had taken illegal drugs — showed up at their home in January and overdosed, according to an arrest warrant.

Officers found Brandon Duffy without a pulse Jan. 13 at a home in the 1100 block of West King Street and took him to York Hospital. The next day he was taken off life support and died from morphine and fentanyl toxicity, the warrant states.

West York Borough Police have charged the couple, Jermaine Allen Johnson and wife Crystal L. Ertz, both 40, with involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person.

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West York Borough Police Chief Matt Millsaps said Wednesday the Good Samaritan Law, which protects those who call 911 if someone in their company may be dying of an overdose, is not applicable to Johnson and Ertz.

"They watched their friend die ... had they called for help sooner, he might have been resuscitated," Millsaps said. "When we looked at it, this is literally a life lost for no reason. ... We thought this went beyond somebody just not wanting to get involved." 

According to York County District Attorney Spokesman Kyle King, police consulted with prosecutors prior to filing the charges.

Both Ertz and Johnson are in custody, West York police said in a post on Facebook. Johnson was taken in on the warrant on Tuesday, Millsaps said. He was taken to York County Prison on $40,000 bail. Ertz was arraigned Wednesday at Central Booking and her bail was set at $20,000, according to the York County Sheriff's Office.

"Passed out"

Police were called to Johnson and Ertz's home about 2:09 a.m. on Jan. 13 for an unconscious male, later identified as Duffy. Once there, they found an unresponsive Duffy on a living room couch, the warrant states.

Officers began CPR and EMTs arrived and continued life-saving efforts on Duffy as they took him to York Hospital, according to the warrant.

Johnson, who appeared to be intoxicated, and Ertz, who both were there at the time, said they knew Duffy to have a history of heroin abuse, the warrant states.

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Police also spoke with Duffy's girlfriend, Kaitlyn Miller, who told them Duffy was buying heroin or "Molly" from a new dealer and planned to take it one last time before kicking the habit, according to the warrant.

Miller said that on Jan. 13, Duffy texted her about 7:30 p.m. to say he had just arrived at Johnson and Ertz's home.

Then, at 10:41 p.m., Miller received a text from Ertz saying, "Yea, he's (Duffy) passed out." Ertz texted Miller three more times between 9:50 p.m. and 1:43 a.m., saying that she and Johnson could not wake Duffy, the warrant states.

Like family

After Duffy's death, police spoke with Johnson, who recalled Duffy stopping by his home Jan. 12 and giving him a bag of marijuana, the warrant states.

"Johnson also admitted that he knew Duffy had a heroin addiction and had been present on prior occasions when Duffy took the drug," according to the warrant. "Johnson had known Duffy for years, and considered him to be family."

Johnson said about an hour after Duffy arrived, he passed out on a bed while Johnson smoked the marijuana. Over the next 2-3 hours, Johnson tried to wake Duffy, to no avail, and became concerned.

"Johnson had never seen Duffy sleep this long, make 'noises' like he was, or be unable to wake him," the warrant states.

Then, at 11:30 p.m., Johnson and Ertz dragged Duffy off the bed, down a hallway and placed him on a couch.

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"Duffy did not respond to this at all," according to the warrant.

After that, Ertz left the home to buy food and finally, just after 2 a.m., Johnson noticed Duffy's lips were blue and called 911.

"Johnson admitted to purposely not calling the ambulance earlier because he 'didn't wanna rat on him ... and get him in trouble,'" the warrant states. "He wanted to save Duffy's reputation because he was trying to get his life back together."

In an interview with police, Ertz said she purposely delayed calling an ambulance because she didn't want to get Duffy in trouble.

"She expressed regret for not calling sooner and admitted she had a duty of care for him while he was in her home," according to the warrant.

Contact reporter Ted Czech at 717-771-2033.