Shelburne County man committed to stand trial

A Shelburne County man has been ordered to stand trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on four charges in the November 2018 overdose death of a Halifax university student.

Jesse Arthur Simpson, 30, of Clark’s Harbour was arrested a year later, in November 2019, and charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death, trafficking cocaine and trafficking fentanyl.

Last June, Simpson elected to be tried by a Supreme Court judge alone and requested a preliminary inquiry in Halifax provincial court.

The inquiry was held over two days this week. Judge Gregory Lenehan heard evidence from a forensic toxicologist, a medical examiner, six police officers and two civilians before committing Simpson to stand trial.

Simpson, who is represented by Halifax lawyer Ian Hutchison, will be arraigned in Supreme Court on Jan. 7. He remains free on $5,000 bail.

Police and paramedics responded to a 911 call for immediate medical assistance at an apartment building on the Bedford Highway in Halifax on the morning of Nov. 2, 2018. Cameron Annette Clairmont, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The death was later determined to be a result of a drug overdose, Halifax Regional Police said in a news release announcing the charges last year.

Police said the charges were laid in consultation with the Public Prosecution Service.

Clairmont graduated from Barrington Municipal High School in 2017 and began attending Mount Saint Vincent University in September 2018.