Two seemingly unrelated fatal ODs lead to arrests of two men for providing drugs, cops say
Mike ArgentoAt 10:33 p.m. Dec. 23, 2016, a Northeastern Regional Police Department officer was sent to the McDonald’s on North George Street near Manchester in East Manchester Township for a suspected drug overdose.
When the officer arrived, he found Edward “Butch” Ahrens in the parking lot, unresponsive and not breathing. He administered naloxone and assisted as EMTs loaded Ahrens into an ambulance.
Ahrens died later at Memorial Hospital, an autopsy showing that he died of a combination of fentanyl and alcohol. He was 27.
On June 3, 2018, Newberry Township police were sent to a home on Cassel Road in a mobile home park near Manchester. When the officer arrived, he found Jared Connelly lying face-up on a bed, an uncapped syringe by his right hand.
The officer noted seeing blood inside in the syringe. Connelly was “beyond help; cold and stiff to the touch” when the officer arrived, a criminal complaint would later state. An EMT pronounced him dead at the scene. He was 30.
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These two seemingly unrelated overdoses turned out to have a common thread, police allege.
As a result of the investigation, performed jointly by Northeastern Regional and Newberry Township police, two men now face charges of providing the fentanyl-laced heroin that caused the deaths of Ahrens and Connelly.
Both men, police charge, got the drugs that killed them from a man named David Talbot Taylor, 32, who lived in the Manchester area before taking up his current residence listed in court documents as the York County Prison.
Police determined that Taylor allegedly got the drugs from a man named David Junior Seecharran, 41, of the 500 block of West King Street in York.
Both men are charged with a variety of offenses, including third-degree murder and delivering drugs that resulted in death.
According to the criminal complaint, Ahrens had texted someone identified on his cellphone as “DT” - later identified as Taylor - apparently seeking heroin. Asked by Taylor what he wants, he replied four bags.
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A price of $40 was negotiated, and Ahrens texted Taylor that he was at a business in Manchester Township. They met and completed the transaction, police allege in the complaint.
Not long after, Ahrens texted Taylor, “Good (stuff) bro. Thanks for helping me out. I really appreciate it.” Taylor responded, “No problem.”
Then, in June 2018, as Newberry Township police were investigating Connelly’s death, investigators learned that Connelly and Taylor were friends and that they had been at the trailer on Cassel Road the night before Connelly was found dead.
The township police also learned that Northeastern Regional investigators suspected that Taylor had delivered the drugs that resulted in Ahrens’ death.
On Jan. 9, police interviewed Taylor, according to the criminal complaint, and he told them he had bought four bags of heroin from his dealer, who he referred to as “Big Man,” and then sold them to Ahrens, meeting him near the bar to complete the transaction.
Taylor told police he had heard the next day that Ahrens had died.
Police then turned the questioning toward Connelly’s death. Taylor told police that he and Connelly were friends and that the day before Connelly died he was at his home and that both men were “dope sick,” withdrawing from opiate addiction.
He told police he and Connelly put their money together, and Taylor arranged to meet “Big Man” at a business, where he bought a bundle of 10 packs of heroin for about $50 or $60.
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Taylor told police that he did one of the packets as soon as he got it, and by the time he returned to Connelly’s house, he realized it was “really strong,” according to the complaint.
He and Connelly allegedly split the bundle, and Taylor told police that he left after Connelly had done one bag of the heroin. He intended to text Connelly when he got home to let him know he made it home and to check on his friend, but, according to the complaint, he passed out before being able to send the text.
That morning, he told police he heard Connelly had died.
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He also told police that two days later, he overdosed using the same heroin, but was saved by his sister who administered naloxone after she found him not breathing.
Taylor told police that he confronted “Big Man” about the potency of the heroin. “Big Man” told him that he had only cut the drugs with sugar, the complaint states.
After he agreed to provide police with written statements, the complaint states, he described “Big Man” as a big guy, about 300 pounds. He wrote the name down for police, spelling it “David Seeachelan.”
Police later identified “Big Man” as David Seecharran.
Taylor told police that he worked with Seecharran, police allege, cutting and packaging the heroin, work that he would be paid for in heroin.
Taylor told police that after someone he knew almost overdosed on heroin allegedly provided by Seecharran, Seecharan responded, “Well, they are just all (bleeping) junkies anyway.”
Taylor and Seecharran were charged on Wednesday and both were detained in York County Prison. Taylor's bail was set at $75,000. Seecharran was denied bail.
See below: Heroin takes 9-year-old's dad.
