Six Suspects Charged in connection with Three Overdose Deaths
MUSKINGUM COUNTY, Ohio- Local authorities announced today that six people have been charged in connection with the death of three overdose victims.
One of those individuals, Presley Ayers, is being sought by the Muskingum County’s Sheriff’s Office. The other five suspects Trevor Hinkle, Morgan Bateman, Frank Bettinger Jr., Kevin May and Andrea Falcon are incarcerated and more charges could be forthcoming. In addition, two other individuals, Christopher Stamn and Matthew Beach were arrested and indicted on individual investigations.
“It just goes to show that even though there’s this huge case sitting up here with all these deaths, that these two down here (Stamn, Beach) are still just as responsible as the other ones, we just haven’t linked them back to any deaths yet. They’re still big cases, they’re still F1 cases and these guys don’t slow down. I think they keep getting case after case everyday,” Zanesville Police Chief Tony Coury said.
Authorities say three overdose deaths occurred between March and May that were connected to the six suspects. Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz says it’s believed a Columbus dealer and trafficker was supplying drugs to a dealer in Crooksville.
“I knew Laikyn Wisecarver. I coached her. She went to school with my daughter. So, when we start doing these cases, Tony and I are in the community a lot and we see people that we know all the time. They come up to us and want to know what we’re doing to help their families and they know we got our hands full. When you know someone in these cases, the magnitude increases a lot,” Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said.
The other two overdose victims are identified as Brannon McGee and Larry Compton III. The six suspects in this investigation are facing charges which include involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs, trafficking in narcotics and possession of narcotics.
The following eight suspects:
