Whatcom sheriff arrests three for alleged homicide involving fentanyl-laced drugs
Three people were arrested on suspicion of controlled substance homicide on Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 11-12, after a 31-year-old Whatcom County man they sold fentanyl-laced pills to died in early March, according to a Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office news release.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office and the Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force arrested Brezedric Antowyn Jamerson, 50, and Sheila Rochelle Johnson, 54, on suspicion of first-degree manslaughter and controlled substance homicide on Tuesday, jail records show. Jamerson was also arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
Detectives from the task force also arrested Kim M. Ribble, 55, on suspicion of first-degree manslaughter and controlled substance homicide Wednesday at her Bellingham residence, according to the release. All three were booked into Whatcom County Jail.
At his first appearance in Whatcom County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon, Jamerson had his bail set at $200,000. Johnson had her bail set at $100,000. A no-contact order was put in place between the two of them.
Ribble’s first appearance is scheduled for a later date.
The arrests followed a months-long investigation into the death of Evan Parberry. Parberry died in his residence on the 1000 Block of Slater Road March 9 from an apparent accidental overdose of counterfeit fentanyl-laced prescription pills, the release states.
When detectives arrested Jamerson and Johnson Tuesday at a Ferndale hotel room, they found about 100 of the counterfeit pills and more than $2,000, the release states.
About five to seven salt-granule sized grains of fentanyl, an opioid 50 times stronger than heroin, can lead to an overdose in an adult, according to the release. Several overdoses in Whatcom County have been tied the fentanyl-laced pills in the past year, the release stated.
The pills resemble pharmaceutical-grade Oxycodone Hydrochloride 30 mg tablets and are commonly called “blues” because of their color, according to the release.
This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 1:03 PM.
CORRECTION: The name of the person also arrested on suspicion of possession was corrected.
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