A suspected heroin dealer will head to trial for the overdose death of a woman in Dauphin County. Tony James Jr. waived his preliminary hearing on Monday morning before Magisterial District Judge, Michael Smith.
Police charged James, of Harrisburg, after finding 31-year-old Kelly Sherrick dead in a grocery store bathroom from a heroin overdose back on December 13th. James is accused of selling her the lethal dose of heroin.
Deputy District Attorney for Dauphin County, Jennifer Hartlep said this is part of an ongoing effort for law enforcement to get a grip on the growing heroin problem. “I think heroin is a countywide epidemic. The hope is that this law can help the District Attorney prosecute more dealers that are dealing the drugs like heroin that are causing so many overdose deaths,” said Hartlep.
James will be formally arraigned on July 18th and faces charges Drug Delivery Resulting in death and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance. “These are difficult cases. This was certainly a tragedy. It wasn’t Mr. James’ intention for this to happen. These are tough cases to handle and he’s trying to do the right thing,” said defense attorney Brian Perry.
James’ bail is set at a $500,000.