Trial starts in college student’s drug death
Heroin scourge hit Concordia
Port Washington — A Milwaukee man on trial for the overdose death of a college student says he sold the victim only fake drugs, but the prosecutor said evidence suggests otherwise.
“Don’t deny the reality readily apparent before your eyes,” Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol told jurors in an opening statement Tuesday.
Shuntaye Crenshaw, 24, is charged with firstdegree reckless homicide in the death of Caleb Ford, a freshman at Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon who died of a heroin and Xanax overdose in his freshman dorm room Oct. 1, 2015.
Crenshaw was charged separately in February with delivery of heroin during an undercover sting set up by detectives investigating Ford’s death and sentenced to three years in prison. He faces up to 40 years if convicted in Ford’s death.
In his opening statement, Gerol explained that Crenshaw traveled to Mequon and gave Ford the heroin just hours before Ford’s roommate found him dead.
Ford, of Waukesha, had purchased drugs from Crenshaw in the past, and he told his new college friends he could get them drugs if the group could pool together $200.
On the night of Sept. 30, the students drove a short distance south of campus and met with Crenshaw on Dandelion Lane, a dead-end street off N. Lake Shore Drive, and bought marijuana, concentrated marijuana oil, pills and some heroin.
Gerol said Ford’s commission for bringing Crenshaw the new business was a tenth of a gram of heroin.
Ford used the heroin, alone, in his room at Wittenberg Hall.
Ford’s roommate, Jacob Galloway, told police he went to his room about 2:30 a.m. and saw Ford with dried blood on his nose and cheeks but left him alone and spent the night in another dorm room.
Galloway returned to his room at 7:15 a.m. and found Ford slumped over a desk, couldn’t wake him and then called another friend to come there before finally notifying campus security.
Mario Valdes, head of security at the university, testified that Galloway came to his office and asked if he could talk. Without making eye contact, Galloway said, “My roommate is dead,” and then walked out.
Valdes, other college officials and then EMTs responded to Room 167. Amy Boll, a Mequon paramedic, said she gave Ford two full doses of Narcan, a drug that
counteracts opioid overdoses, even though he did not appear to be breathing at all. A pen cap with heroin residue was on his desk.
‘A rip-off artist’
In her opening statement, defense attorney Lauria Lynch-German didn’t dispute many of the facts as laid out by the prosecutor. But she insisted Crenshaw delivered only “items” to Ford, not heroin. “My client’s a ripoff artist,” she said.
She also raised the idea that Ford had time to have obtained real heroin after he returned to his dorm room since the campus video shows he left the building for about 15 minutes about 2 a.m.
The other three students
— Galloway, 19, of Des Moines, Iowa; Lucas Eaton, 19, of Lockport, Ill.; and Zachary Haen, 18, of Kaukauna — were charged in December 2015 with misdemeanor counts of obstructing an officer and possession of marijuana. All were expelled from Concordia, which enrolls about 8,200 students, and none is expected to testify against Crenshaw.
A lucky coincidence later led police to Crenshaw.
Shortly after he had sold the drugs to Ford, Crenshaw was stopped for speeding as he headed south on Lake Shore Drive. He was ticketed for driving while suspended and speeding. His passenger, Cedric McCarty, was cited for giving a different name. Police got cellphone numbers from both men, which they later used to contact Crenshaw to set up a sting sale at a Mequon gas station.
Crenshaw’s trial reveals how easily the scourge of heroin infects even a bucolic setting like Concordia University, a Lutheran-affiliated campus on Lake Michigan in Mequon.
Prosecutors around the state have become aggressive in seeking homicide convictions for drug dealers they can tie directly to overdose deaths, so-called Len Bias cases.
Bias was a University of Maryland basketball player who died of a cocaine overdose two days after being drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1986. The ensuing publicity and outrage led Congress to pass the Anti-Drug Abuse Act that year, which included homicide charges for dealers tied to overdose deaths, as well as harsh minimum mandatory sentences for other drug crimes and extensive forfeiture provisions. States then adopted similar laws.
aliers, 118-101, in a BMO Harris Bradley Center that wasn’t close to sold out but felt like it. This was a save-the-ticket-stub night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was the best player on the court, stuffing the stat sheet and tying his career high with 34 points on a variety of soaring dunks, drives and contortionist moves in the paint. He had LeBron James muttering to himself at one point, had the crowd chanting “MVP!” in the second half and should have made the all-star game off this performance alone.
But the Greek Freak had company on the highlight reel. Jabari Parker split two defenders on a 1-on-2 fast break and finished with a monster dunk. Little-used rookie Thon Maker all but broke Chris Andersen’s ankles before burying a smooth jumper. Malcolm Brodgon made back-to-back threepointers in the fourth quarter, effectively ending any hopes the Cavs might have had for a comeback.
On Nov. 19, the Bucks gave the Golden State Warriors all they could handle in a three-point loss. Now this, a shocking undressing of King James and Co. that should give the team a huge boost of confidence.
And you’re asking: Why can’t they do this more often? Yes, the Bucks have to learn how to channel this kind of focus and effort on a regular basis and take care of business against teams they should beat. But they’re getting there.
With roughly one-fifth of the season completed, the Bucks find themselves at 8-8 and in the mix at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Even a seventh or eighth seed would be an accomplishment for a team that lost one of its best players, Khris Middleton, to a freak hamstring injury before the season started.
Make no mistake about it, this team misses Middleton on both ends of the court. But the additions of Matthew Dellavedova, Tony Snell and rookie Brogdon have helped immeasurably. In fact, the Snell-for-Michael Carter-Williams trade is starting to look like a steal for the Bucks.
“We’ve loved Tony and his work ethic,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s shown a lot early on in this season. We’ve asked him to do a lot and he’s up for the challenge. … When you talk to him, he talks about defense; that’s very rare in this league. He enjoys both sides of the ball. We’re very lucky to have him.”
Then there’s Dellavedova, the antithesis of flashy but the consummate effort-and-glue guy.
“He gives everything he has on a nightly basis, not just in the games but in practice,” Kidd said. “When you get to see that on a daily basis, it’s just a domino effect. Everyone falls in line with it and they want to help him in any way because they know how much he helps them on the court.”
Finally, Antetokounmpo and Parker are becoming the kind of stars around which a championship team can be built.
Clearly, the Bucks have closed the gap on the elite teams in the league. They’re not there yet, of course, so for now their goal should be to play with the same determination they displayed Tuesday night against the likes of the Nets, 76ers, Suns and Mavericks. That’s what playoff teams do.
There’s a long way to go in this season. It’s not even December yet. But if you’re not excited about this team’s potential, you haven’t been paying attention.