Montco woman charged with homicide in heroin death

HATBORO A Hatboro woman was charged with homicide for allegedly providing heroin to her 19-year-old boyfriend, who died of a drug overdose, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday.

Carly P. Stevenson, 27, called 911 the afternoon of Sept. 29 to report that her boyfriend was "blue in the lips, cold to the touch, and was not breathing," according to a news release from the District Attorney's Office. Emergency responders arrived to find Brandon Cron, 19, of Quakertown, dead.

Detectives determined that Stevenson had given Cron heroin the night before, and "tried to dispose of evidence before the police arrived," prosecutors said.

The Coroner's Office determined that Cron died from "an adverse reaction to heroin."

According to Cron's Facebook page, he got out of a rehabilitation center in May and was living in a recovery house.

Stevenson's Facebook page says she "never did anything to hurt him" and was sad that Cron's parents would not let her attend the funeral.

Stevenson was charged under the state's Drug Delivery Resulting in Death statute, passed in 2011 and which District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman called "a powerful tool to deal with drug suppliers who provide illegal substances that, after use, cause death."

Before the statute was passed, drug suppliers could be charged with third-degree murder, but prosecutors would have to prove that the suppliers acted with malice. Now, they have to prove only that the supplier acted "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly."

In addition to homicide, Stevenson is charged with reckless endangerment, lying to authorities, and drug possession.

Stevenson, who had no criminal record, is being held at the county Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 20.

The maximum sentence she could receive is 40 years in prison.

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