LUMBERTON — A South Carolina man has been charged with murder in the death of a person who apparently died after using heroin provided by the accused, according to Sheriff Kenneth Sealey.
Marquand Jerome Newell, 35, of Dillon, S.C., was arrested by sheriff’s investigators Tuesday and charged with second-degree murder. He was placed in the Robeson County jail under a $500,000 bond.
According to a statement by Sealey, sheriff’s deputies responded on May 9 to an emergency call from 182 Piedmont Drive in Rowland, where they found Simone Sasha Hunt, 27, in cardiac arrest and unresponsive. Hunt died that day.
Witnesses told investigators that Hunt became ill shortly after using heroin provided by Newell.
Newell was detained by sheriff’s investigators at Marion County (S.C.) Detention Center, where he was being held after being charged with several drug crimes on July 27. He waived extradition to clear the way to be returned to Robeson County.
The Dillon County Sheriff’s Office, Marion County Sheriff’s Office, federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office in the case.
“When individuals overdose and die we are investigating further as to where the drugs originated …,” Sealey said.
