Facebook search leads to fatal overdose charges
Authorities say woman delivered drugs that killed Monroe County man.
Conversations on Facebook have led to a woman facing charges for the overdose death of a Monroe County man.
Caitlyn Nichelle Herzig, 25, of Bushkill was arraigned this week for the April 13 death of 23-year-old Jordan Robert Scalia.
Pennsylvania State Police responded April 13 to a report of man lying on the side of the road in front of 953 Hiawatha Road, in Middle Smithfield Township.
Bushkill Emergency Corps. were the first on scene, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The man was found dead, and no treatment was attempted.
On the victim's body, officers found what they suspected was heroin, a pipe, a cut plastic straw and a lighter, according to the affidavit. No injuries were observed. That victim was later identified as Scalia.
The Monroe County Coroner's Office took possession of the body for an autopsy and toxicology test. On April 14 police went to Scalia's home on Shawnee Drive, where they notified his mother, Patricia Alma Scalia, of his death.
The victim's mother told police she had last seen her son around 3 p.m. the night of his death, before she left for work, the affidavit says.
Jordan Scalia had been working a construction job in the area with his father, Thomas Scalia, when he suffered a sprained ankle. His mother picked him up around noon and returned him to their home, where she got him an ankle brace and asked him to lay in bed.
Patricia Scalia told police her son had been addicted to heroin for at least six months, according to the complaint. He was unable to drive due to a suspended driver's license and frequently left the house on foot.
His mother was unaware of his destinations, and her son refused to disclose them. The victim's mother consented to a police search of their home.
Inside the kitchen trash bag, forensic investigators discovered five empty glassine bags stamped “shooters” in black ink, with two small black revolvers stamped beneath the letters.
Police submitted a preservation request to Facebook for an account under the username “Jordan Scalia,” which was believed to belong to the victim. Facebook satisfied that request for preservation.
Also on April 14, Patricia Scalia called police to tell themshe received a visit from Herzig, one of her son's friends, who was looking for Jordan. Patricia Scalia told police she had not seen Herzig for a long time previously and that it was unusual for her to stop by the house unexpectedly.
An autopsy on Scalia's body was performed April 16 at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.
Mixed substance toxicity was determined to be the cause of death. Toxicology tests identified alprazolam (Xanax), fentanyl, norfentanyl (a metabolite of fentanyl), acetyl fentanyl, 4ANPP (a substance used in the synthesis of fentanyl) and norfluoxetine (a metabolite of Prozac) in his blood.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine, according to Drug Enforcement Administration fact sheets. Acetyl fentanyl is analog of fentanyl that is about 15-16 times as potent as morphine.
Police obtained a warrant June 1 to search Scalia's Facebook account. Those digital records were received by police on June 27, according the affidavit.
Through those records, police learned Scalia contacted Herzig the night of his death. Their conversation detailed a drug transaction wherein Herzig would meet Scalia inside the development, near where he was later found dead.
On July 7, police interviewed Herzig at the Monroe County jail.
Herzig admitted to going to Scalia's house immediately after his death, but initially denied seeing or speaking with the victim for months prior. She admitted she would communicate with Scalia through Facebook using an account listed under her name.
Herzig told police she heard Scalia was doing badly, according to the affidavit. Police then confronted her with the details of her messages with Scalia on the night of his death. She admitted to authoring those messages and meeting with the victim that night, police said
Herzig also told officers she was not alone on that evening and that a man was driving her, police said. She said they drove to community's mailboxes to meet him and, when asked about Scalia's ankle, admitted she and the man likely gave Scalia a ride.
The drugs Herzig sold to Scalia belonged to the man who drove her to meet him, she told police. The affidavit makes no further mention of that man, who is not named in the document.
On July 25, thesubstances found in Scalia's possession were submitted to the state police Wyoming Regional Laboratory for examination.
Troopers investigating the case received the results on Oct. 5, and those results identified the contents as heroin, acetyl fentanyl and fentanyl.
Herzig is being charged as both a principle and accomplice in the case. She was confined Tuesday to the Monroe County jail under $150,000 bail.
Herzig is charged with one count each of drug delivery resulting in a death, and the manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, both felonies.
She is also charged with one count each of involuntary manslaughter, use or possession of drug paraphernalia and the intentional possession of a controlled substance by a person who is not registered to possess it without a prescription, all misdemeanors.