Two women charged in connection with first fatal overdose of 2019

Two women are jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail in connection with the first fatal overdose of 2019 in Franklin County.  

Melissa Cook, 39, and Diana Lopez Velasco, 22, are each charged with one felony count of possession with intent to deliver fentanyl, according to online court records. Both are also charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both women were placed in Franklin County Jail Thursday, and remained there Saturday afternoon, online records show. 

Cook is accused of selling the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl to a 49-year-old man, who was pronounced dead early on Jan. 12 after being found unconscious and not breathing at his home in the 1000 block of Miramar Drive, Hamilton Township, according to court documents filed by Pennsylvania State Police with Magisterial District Judge Duane Cunningham of Greencastle. Lopez Velasco is her romantic partner and currently lives with her in Fayetteville, police said, although court records say she has a Hagerstown, Md., address.

More:First opioid overdose of 2019 hits Franklin County, fentanyl use rises in Pa.

State police responded at about 12:21 a.m. Jan. 12 to the man's home, where officers found him lying on his back on the kitchen floor. He had blood around his nose. Police later found two small straws with residue on them in the house, one in the kitchen and one in a bedroom.

The Franklin County Coroner’s Office responded and pronounced the man dead. A urine test showed the man was positive for a variety of drugs, including heroin, fentanyl, morphine (all types of opioids), benzodiazepine (used to treat anxiety and related conditions), and cocaine.

Court documents do not list the man's name. 

The victim’s wife told police her husband used fentanyl at least twice a week. She had taken him earlier the day before to buy some at "Missy's" house on Newman Road in Greene Township, according to court documents. She did not know the exact address, but was able to give police directions to the home as well as that woman's phone number.

The Centers for Disease Control recently named fentanyl the deadliest drug in America, as overdoses have surged annually and its prevalence has exploded. A synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine and 50- to 100-times more potent than heroin, drug dealers often mix fentanyl in with other drugs to increase potency and quantity, many times unbeknownst to the users. 

More:Chambersburg man charged in deadly overdose at recovery center

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The man's wife told police how it would work when she took her husband to Missy's home to buy drugs. She said she gave her husband “$35 for 1, but never more than $100.” She confirmed it was to buy fentanyl.

Police later identified Missy as Melissa Cook, and located her Facebook profile.

After confirming Cook’s address and determining via text messages that the victim had set up to buy fentanyl from her, police executed a search warrant at her home on Wednesday, Jan. 16.

Police seized a number of items, including currency, plastic sandwich bags, plastic straws, labeled and unlabeled prescription bottles, a pill grinder, wax bags with white powder, a glass jar of marijuana, various pills and capsules, cell phones, an SD card, tablets and white powder indicative of fentanyl.

In court documents, police described how fentanyl can be pressed into pill form made to look like ordinary pharmaceutical pain-relief medications, such as Vicodin or oxycodone. Documents also describe how fentanyl can be inadvertently inhaled or absorbed through the skin, which is a threat to law enforcement officers when handling the drug. 

During a press conference last week announcing the Franklin County Drug Task Force's accomplishments in 2018, District Attorney Matt Fogal said the county had its first fatal overdose of 2019 on Jan. 12. There were 32 fatal overdoses in 2018, and 35 in 2017. 

Cook and Velasco's preliminary hearings are scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. 29 in Franklin County Central Court.