Women charged in drug death
A Eustis woman has been charged with manslaughter after she allegedly helped inject a friend with drugs, which led to his death several hours later, police records show.
After a night of drinking, Lauren Nikki Veljkovic, 23, and Tyler Nelson, 25, went back to his father’s apartment in Eustis. The next morning Nelson was found dead. After months of investigating the May 21 death, Eustis police now say Veljkovic is partially responsible for Nelson’s death.
Police said when the pair got back to his dad’s apartment, Veljkovic allowed Nelson to have one of her Subutex tablets, a drug used to help addicts wean away from opioid dependence. She allegedly prepared the drugs, loaded the syringe and showed Nelson where to inject the narcotic, according to police, who said she also removed the needle after the drug was injected.
She told police she knew taking too much of the narcotic “could kill someone,” an arrest warrant said.
Police said Veljkovic changed her story several times during interviews about Nelson’s death. She said she warned Nelson against taking the drugs and that it was a bad idea. She also told police he only took a small portion of one tablet.
Veljkovic said Nelson fell back after taking the drugs in the early morning hours and fell asleep, the warrant said. When she woke up about 6 a.m., Nelson’s lips were blue and there was foam around his mouth, she said.
She told police she tried to resuscitate him with no success.
Nelson’s father, Robert Lake, told police his son had smoked marijuana and snorted cocaine in the past but would never inject himself with drugs.
Lake also told investigators Veljkovic admitted to him she had injected Nelson with something.
Tim Bombard of Umatilla said he’s happy Veljkovic was arrested last week, but it doesn’t bring his longtime friend back. He said he was supposed to meet Nelson and take him home the night before his death but he disappeared with Veljkovic.
“I went to high school with him,” said Bombard, 28. “He was really cool. He joked around all the time. … We were really big Dolphins fans, and we ended up getting the logo [tattooed] on our legs in the same spot about a month before this all happened.”
He said Nelson was taken too soon, and he wishes he could hang out and watch a Miami game with him.
“[He had] big dreams. He just cared a lot for the people that cared for him a lot. He’d give you the shirt off his back just to make sure you were OK,” Bombard said. “I’d have to say besides me, he was the second biggest Dolphins fan in Lake County. … He was so ready for the season, and then this happened right before preseason started.”
Veljkovic has been previously arrested in Lake County five times on a variety of drug and battery charges. She is being held in the Lake County Jail on $30,000 bond.