Harrisburg police apprehended a 34-year-old woman this week on charges of selling fentanyl to a person who died in a series of overdoses in the city in 2023.
Ashley Wise sold Bobby Barrett a fentanyl-containing substance on September 9, 2023, in the 1600 block of North 2nd Street, according to authorities.
Around 12:23 a.m., officers arrived at the North 2nd Street address, where they discovered Barrett and two women overdosing. Barrett died after using the substance he bought from Wise, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Wise, who was arrested on Tuesday, is charged with one count of drug distribution resulting in death.
The Dauphin County 911 dispatch center received 22 reports for overdoses between 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, and 8 a.m. Monday, Sept. 11, eight of which were deadly.
A total of 18 overdoses occurred within a 12-hour period from Friday, September 8, 2023, to Saturday.
Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams referred to the situation as a “crisis,” asserting that a lethal batch of drugs had inundated the city.
Fentanyl, a potent opioid, blocks neurons in the brain that contribute to breathing. Unlike other opioids, fentanyl can cause muscular rigidity and constriction in the chest, making breathing difficult, according to specialists.
Therese Kosten, head of the University of Houston’s Addiction Research Program, told the Dallas Morning News that a fentanyl overdose can occur in as little as 15 minutes when smoked or in 20 minutes when taken orally.
Naloxone, often known as Narcan, is a medicine that can reverse opioid overdoses caused by prescription opioids, heroin, fentanyl, and other synthetic opioids.
Individuals interested in entering treatment or receiving help can contact Dauphin County Drug & Alcohol Help at 717-635-2254 at any time.
Wise has a preliminary hearing planned for September 10. She was detained in the Dauphin County Prison on Wednesday after failing to post her $250,000 bond.
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