Charges in fentanyl-related death headed for court
NEW BRITAIN » Charges including drug delivery resulting in death and involuntary manslaughter against William Frank Brennan, 21, of the 800 block of Hilltown Pike in Hilltown, are moving forward to Bucks County Court following Brennan’s waiver of an Aug. 14 preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Regina Armitage, New Britain.
On Nov. 13, 2017, the dead body of 23-year-old Lukas Titus was found seated on a vacant gravel lot in the 1500 block of Bethlehem Pike in Hilltown, Hilltown and Towamencin Township police departments said in the affidavit of probable cause charging Brennan. The autopsy listed fentanyl as the cause of death, investigators said.
A forensic examination of Titus’ cell phone found text messages between Titus and “Billy F,” later identified as Brennan, during which the two arranged to meet for the sale of illegal drugs, investigators said.
During an April 6, 2018 search of Brennan’s apartment by Hatfield, Hilltown and Towamencin officers, Brennan showed officers a rectangular food container with 13 grams of fentanyl, packaging material, a scale and $1,517 in cash and said the items were his, police said.
Following the preliminary hearing waiver, Brennan’s attorney Edward Galang called it “a sad case all around.”
Assistant District Attorney Ashley Towhey said the case is another example of the opioid epidemic.
Along with the drug delivery resulting in death and involuntary manslaughter charges, Brennan is also charged with delivery of controlled substances, criminal use of a communication facility and recklessly endangering another person.
Formal arraignment in Bucks County Court is scheduled for Sept. 14, Armitage said.