Bellingham man suspected in controlled substance homicide of high school girl
A Bellingham man is suspected of selling drugs laced with fentanyl to a high school girl who died a day later of an apparent overdose last January.
Bellingham Police booked Joshua Benjamin Stewart, 18, into Whatcom County Jail Wednesday, July 21, on suspicion of charges including controlled substance homicide and distributing a substance in lieu of a controlled substance.
According to Whatcom County Superior Court documents filed Thursday, July 22, officers responded for a death investigation on Jan. 26. The death reportedly appeared to be from an overdose.
A preliminary examination by the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office found trace amounts of fentanyl in the victim’s system, court documents state.
On Jan. 31, police were contacted by a person who was one of two people in a car with Stewart, and during the ride, the group began talking about the victim’s death, court documents state. Both of the other occupants in the car told police that Stewart said that he had sold the victim Xanax but also mentioned fentanyl, court documents state, and that Stewart said he had been unable to reach the victim all week after selling her the drugs.
A third person told police that he had a phone conversation with Stewart on Feb. 3, when Stewart said that he had 30 “Percs” in his possession, court documents state. Later in the conversation, the witness told police that he joked “It’s not like you killed anyone,” to which Stewart reportedly said “I can not confirm or deny that.” Stewart then reportedly said that every night “her face pops into my head,” and that “I told her how to use it.”
Police obtained a Jan. 24-25 Snapchat conversation between Stewart in the victim, in which they arranged to meet, court documents show. During that conversation, Stewart reportedly said “Okay don’t do a lot seriously,” to which the victim replied, “i wont dw (don’t worry).”
On Feb. 23, police were contacted by the victim’s family, who had found a baggie that had “420” on it and contained three blue pills inside the victim’s wallet near her bed, documents state. Test results on one of the blue pills marked “M30” came back positive for fentanyl.
In a separate investigation in February, the Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force conducted two controlled purchases of Clonazolam-laced counterfeit Xanax pills, one controlled purchase of fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills and one controlled purchase of a substance that tested positive for heroin from Stewart, according to court documents.
Stewart was arrested on probable cause warrants from those two investigations Wednesday after Bellingham Police responded to a theft report from the Marshalls on Guide Meridian. Police found Stewart with three backpacks filled with stolen merchandise worth $469.68, court documents state.
Court records show Stewart was already awaiting trial on charges of theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, attempting to elude police and hit and run from two separate incidents in April.
