Bartlett youth dies due to drug-induced homicide
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin and Bartlett Police Chief Kent Williams announced that one adult male has been charged in connection with the drug overdose death of a 15-year-old, John Dudek of the 5N100 block of Gerber Road, on Wednesday, July 10.
Nolan E. McMahon, 18, of Hanover Park, has been charged with drug induced homicide.
It is alleged that on the evening of Tuesday, July 9 and into the early morning hours of July 10, Dudek along with another teenage boy, went to McMahon’s residence and purchased multiple bags of heroin on two occasions. Dudek then returned home and ingested the heroin. On the afternoon of July 10, paramedics were called to Dudek’s home where they found Dudek unresponsive. He was declared deceased at the scene. An autopsy was performed and the cause of death was determined to be a heroin overdose.
A subsequent investigation by the Bartlett Police Department determined that Dudek had purchased the heroin from McMahon shortly prior to his death. A search warrant was executed on McMahon’s residence and disclosed additional heroin inside the home. The DuPage County Major Crimes Task Force assisted in the follow-up investigation.
Berlin and Williams praised the excellent and collaborative work of the Bartlett Police Department and the DuPage County Major Crimes Task Force, including detectives from Addison, Villa Park, Glen Ellyn and Hanover Park police departments, without whose cooperation the investigation would not have concluded so quickly.
“This case is yet another terrible reminder of the extreme danger and the scourge that heroin has become in our community. The people who peddle heroin to our young kids are literally killing them,” said Berlin. “These charges today send a clear message that if you deliver drugs and cause injury or death to another person, you risk going to the penitentiary for up to 30 years.”
“We will not tolerate drug dealers preying upon our children. We will find you, arrest you and bring you to justice,” Berlin added.
The Drug Induced Homicide charge is a Class X felony, punishable by six to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
The defendant appeared in bond court where Judge Timothy McJoynt set bond at $1,000,000 with 10 percent to apply. McMahon’s next court date is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 16 in Courtroom 4012 at 9 a.m. for arraignment.
Police Chief Williams Commentary
The epidemic of heroin causing abuse, addiction and death has played zero favorites in the Chicago metropolitan area. It has impacted every community; it does not cluster to certain geographic areas, towns, or counties. It cuts across all socio/economic populations and does not attach itself to any particular age, sex or race. Many victims come from highly functional and well-structured loving families.
In DuPage County alone, there were 18 heroin related deaths in July of this year. Upon meeting with the DuPage County Coroner, Dr. Richard Jorgensen, we learned the youngest victim in the county, during the month of July was 15 and the oldest was in their mid-60s. This is not a police problem we are going to be able to enforce our way out of alone. Police will keep vigilant doing what we do, but the law enforcement community is arresting users and sellers and confiscating heroin at highly elevated levels, and yet the problem persists. This is a society issue, which in order to combat, will require higher levels of literacy on everyone’s part to include parents, children, educators, government officials and medical staff.
All the heroin addicts I have personally interviewed as Chairman for the DuPage County Chiefs of Police Association’s Heroin Action Subcommittee have advised me they did not wake up one day and decide to become heroin addicts. Most, if not all, had been exposed previously to pain mitigating medication for various reasons such as a high school sports-related injury, a broken arm or leg, a pulled wisdom tooth or an automobile accident. Many pain medications are opiate based, thus the first exposure for the brain.
Other student-age children have expressed simply wanting to feel better, so they shared a crushed up prescribed pain pill, such as Vicodin, with some friends. Often these pills are found in the family medicine cabinet. The horrifying truth of heroin is it is very pure, very cheap and readily accessible. Prescription pain pill abuse is very expensive with individual pills selling for $80 on the street. Heroin is alarmingly cheaper.
The Bartlett Police Department, as well as most other law enforcement agencies, continues to stand ready to serve as partner with all community groups, schools, churches and neighborhood associations to come together and expand their knowledge on ways to reduce the impact of heroin in our great communities.
In short, heroin knows no boundaries.