GUILTY OH - Jonathan Minard, 14, found deceased, Carroll County, 13 April 2019

[LietKynes]

Marking my spot.
Am becoming aggravated for Jonathan's sake... and his family !!

 

[Seattle1]

I’m guessing they’re getting close. Drug dealers are quite clever at protecting their job security. LE must tread carefully for their own safety. That takes time, especially if their intent or focus is someone much higher on the food chain, which is my suspicion. Otherwise, this local penny dealer would have been arrested by now. That’s just my opinion though.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office says it cannot reveal how Jonathan came into contact with fentanyl but did say that the case is also being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. “This takes time and we want to be thorough,” Carroll County Sheriff Dale Williams wrote. bbm

I'm not of the opinion there is some vast corruption in LE investigating JM's homicide.

I do believe this has the hallmark of a large, federal trafficking operation being investigated. Federal charges linked to JM homicide may result in the defendant receiving a true penalty at sentencing -- especially if they are unable to prove murder.

I believe JM's family must also be aware of this and maintaining their silence for a reason. Justice is coming for their son.

MOO

 

[Betty P]

I'm not of the opinion there is some vast corruption in LE investigating JM's homicide.

I do believe this has the hallmark of a large, federal trafficking operation being investigated. Federal charges linked to JM homicide may result in the defendant receiving a true penalty at sentencing -- especially if they are unable to prove murder.

I believe JM's family must also be aware of this and maintaining their silence for a reason.

MOO

No problem, it's ok to disagree and have different opinions about these things.

Personally, I do agree there's no vast corruption in LE going on. It's just business as usual, the way things are sometimes done in rural and semi-rural counties in Ohio. It's not like a big network of corruption, it's just business as usual.

In general, Ohio doesn't have a good clearance rate for murders.

Murder Accountability Project: Clearance Rates

Carroll County has only had 1 homicide since 1965, and they did solve that one.

Murder Accountability Project: Clearance Rates

Yes, we know all about the opiod crisis.

Opioid Summaries by State

To get an idea of how problematic some Ohio counties' LE work can be in the midst of the opioid crisis, you might want to watch a documentary that came out a little while back

"Gone: Forgotten Women of Ohio" was produced by Joe Berlinger, with the assistance of a retired FBI agent. Most recently, Joe produced a documentary about Ted Bundy, which aired on Netflix.

"Gone" uncovers a lot of real problems in some Ohio counties, not just with the opioid crisis, but in how local LE manages their "informants". It's not good, nor professional. That's not to say Carroll and neighboring counties have the similar problems as Ross, Scioto, Franklin and some other Ohio counties, but it's not simple. There are quite a few "overdoses" in some of these counties that are believed to actually be murders.

The relationship between local LE and their "informants" is often very complicated. It takes a lot of training and oversight to manage "informants" in this environment and too often local LE doesn't have the skill or fortitude to manage them well. Sometimes, when "informants" get into trouble, it might be easier to just write off collateral damage as an "overdose".

All JMO. Some reading material for everyone. It's very complicated, but sometimes not really. MOO

 

[PajamaSleuth]

It’s so sad. It seems like Jonathan was a good, sweet kid. I sincerely hope LE are working hard to get justice. I feel as though his family must be crushed by this loss. Makes my heart ache.

 

[Seattle1]

Crazy isn't it.

60 minutes did a program a couple months ago specifically about Ohio and fentanyl arriving from China. A frightening read!

If veteran addicts are killing over here, JM didn't have a prayer.

By now, you may know a family shattered by the opioid epidemic. In 2017, there were 47,000 opioid deaths. That's more Americans than were killed in vehicle accidents or by firearms. One drug, fentanyl, is like rocket fuel in the sharp rise of this crisis. Fentanyl is a painkiller invented in the 1960's and used to relieve the agony of advanced cancer. It is 50 times more potent than heroin. But today fentanyl can be ordered on the internet, by drug dealers and addicts, for an online overdose. Tracking the source of this illicit trade is a story that begins with James Rauh. Like most in Akron, Ohio, he'd never heard of fentanyl until the police told him his son was dead.

Deadly fentanyl bought online from China being shipped through the mail

 

[Betty P]

Yes, all the more horrible that the victim in this case was an innocent 14 year old boy. All the more reason to arrest the guilty party a nd get them off the street. We don't need him out there killing more kids and getting others addicted.

Remove that menace from the community. He has nothing of value to offer LE, nothing they probably don't already know.

 

[Seattle1]

I'm glued to Canada teen killers case and just saw this from RCMP -- reminder that fentanyl is a global problem. Really frightening about this deadly substance.

RCMP Manitoba‏Verified account @rcmpmb
On October 1st, 2017, The RCMP Federal Serious & Organized Crime Unit, along with @CanBorder investigated a parcel of 49g of powdered Fentanyl destined for Wpg. On July 15, 2019, 32yo Corey Slotta was convicted of Importation of Fentanyl & sentenced to 8 yrs in prison. #rcmpmb

11:53 AM - 29 Jul 2019 pst

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

I have been following this case closely and I too am astounded that there has been no arrest(s).

 

[PayrollNerd]

Thinking of you today Jonathan. You should be out doing back to school shopping, finding out your school class schedule and making plans with your friends. Send your Mom and Dad some love to help them make it thru.

 

[Tealgrove]

Still following and waiting impatiently for an arrest. Jonathan, didn't bury himself. MOO

 

[Seattle1]

Still following and waiting impatiently for an arrest. Jonathan, didn't bury himself. MOO

IMO, that’s the rub. There are criminal charges for burying JM and I suspect they know who buried Him and yet still have not filed those charges against suspect.

I’m sure one day the delay will be clear but not helping today. It would be good if we had an update and lack of same leads me to believe the feds are driving this boat.

MOO

 

[Tealgrove]

IMO, that’s the rub. There are criminal charges for burying JM and I suspect they know who buried Him and yet still have not filed those charges against suspect.

I’m sure one day the delay will be clear but not helping today. It would be good if we had an update and lack of same leads me to believe the feds are driving this boat.

MOO

Agreed 100%. It's just hard sitting here and watching and waiting for some kind of charge. Anything. Someone is culpable of something.

I have to believe that there is a bigger picture that we are not privy to. The reverse would be that something is being swept under the carpet but I can't really buy into that.

MOO

 

[LietKynes]

Marking my spot.
And so we wait...

 

[katydid23]

Still following and waiting impatiently for an arrest. Jonathan, didn't bury himself. MOO

Exactly.
If this was just a simple case of a teen OD'ing on hard drugs, someone would have called 911, OR dropped him off at a fire station or clinic, and driven away. Or just left him where he passed out, waiting for someone else to find him.

But burying him takes it to another level, and screams GUILT, imo.

 

[VerbalCues]

I hardly ever post here but my brother’s friend overdosed on fentanyl about 5 years ago. She was a young, 20-something 110 lbs. girl. While many may already know they exist, no one has mentioned fentanyl patches. It’s on my mind while reading because as a nurse in a nursing home, the only form of fentanyl in our facility is in patch form. Also, the girl who overdosed was using patches. The transdermal patch is made to release the fentanyl slowly over a 3 day span, and then you discard and put on a new patch. I learned upon the girl’s death that kids will chew on the patches and make all the medication release at once. You can also boil patches and mix them with tea, juice, alcoholic drinks, etc. May not be relevant in this case but wanted to put that out there.

 

[LietKynes]

Bumping for Jonathan.

 

[calo44]

Any updates?

 

[Bethan]

I hardly ever post here but my brother’s friend overdosed on fentanyl about 5 years ago. She was a young, 20-something 110 lbs. girl. While many may already know they exist, no one has mentioned fentanyl patches. It’s on my mind while reading because as a nurse in a nursing home, the only form of fentanyl in our facility is in patch form. Also, the girl who overdosed was using patches. The transdermal patch is made to release the fentanyl slowly over a 3 day span, and then you discard and put on a new patch. I learned upon the girl’s death that kids will chew on the patches and make all the medication release at once. You can also boil patches and mix them with tea, juice, alcoholic drinks, etc. May not be relevant in this case but wanted to put that out there.

Interesting information. Thank you.

 

[Betty P]

Here's a link to the latest version of the US Drug Enforcement Administration's annual Threat Assessment. It's for 2018.

Overall, they say most Fentanyl being sold and used in the US today is coming from China and Mexico, presumably in powder form. Traffickers are selling it without diluting it.

They're also selling it in the form of counterfeit prescription pills.
Fentanyl is also being mixed with cocaine, with most of the Ohio cocaine overdose deaths in 2017 being the result of fentanyl in the mix. (p 47). In Ohio, the top causes of overdose deaths were fentanyl, heroin and the cocaine/opiate (heroin or fentanyl) mix.

https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/DIR-032-18 2018 NDTA final low resolution.pdf

The DEA annual report is always an interesting read as the world of illegal drugs (and the crime associated with them) seems to change from year to year. Scary.

Again, it's stunning to see Ohio in the top 3 or 4 states for drug overdose deaths year after year. Something is really wrong here. Some news reports claim its because Ohio has an ineffective program for distributing Narcan to high risk populations. They only offer Narcan through specific government contractors via the Ohio Dept of Health. It's not working very well. In Carroll County, the only sites to get Narcan are through a few local drug stores.

Some cities and counties are doing better, because they've worked hard to make the Narcan program accessible. Others not so much.

Map

In the city of Green, OH (not too far from Carroll County) they recently began putting Narcan in local hotel rooms

City of Green To Install NARCAN Kits In Hotels

The person accessing Narcan has to pay for it and must be covered under one of several state health insurance plans. So, I'm assuming if you're uninsured, you don't get Narcan.

https://odh.ohio.gov/wps/wcm/connec...-8319927d-0a2b-4673-9de9-01185736b297-mmG7fCa

The third-party payer of the person receiving* the naloxone can be billed. The person receiving the naloxone will need to provide his/her Medicaid or insurance card to the Project DAWN site.*The person receiving the naloxone from the Project DAWN site may or may not be a person at risk of overdose.

So if you're someone on parole or probation for a drug offense, you're not going to be able to buy Narcan at the local drugstore without filling out a lot of paperwork and identifying yourself. Even then, you have to be insured.

You can get naloxone for free if you get it from a Project Dawn site (run by the Ohio Dept of Health), but there is no Project Dawn program in Carroll County.

https://odh.ohio.gov/wps/wcm/connec...-1911ad13-0bc9-4218-88a2-3d6f9afdbe28-mlJuzGb

Map

Just some general background information

ETA: Link to another recent article about Ohio coroners raising alarms over another spike in overdose deaths and the need to do better education and outreach to make more Narcan available to the public, especially families with members who are at risk of overdose.

Ohio Coroners Warn Of July Spike In Overdose Deaths

 

[Betty P]

Just to clarify on my post above, we've no idea if any of these factors contributed to Jonathan's death. It's just some background information on the terrible problems many Ohio counties are dealing with these days. I hope they all find a way to prevent deaths from opioid overdoses.