Mother Wants Murder Charge For Suspected Fentanyl Dealer
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A mother is pleading for a murder charge against the woman she believes is responsible for distributing fentanyl to her son.
"This is the last picture. The last time I saw him smile and that day, he hugged me so tight," Natasha Butler said as she showed a picture that sits in her living room.
Jerome Butler was one of a dozen people who died of a suspected fentanyl overdose this year. Now 9 months later, his mother still believes not enough is being done to hold the drug dealers accountable.
"No one should have to feel the way I feel. Not like this," she said.
Butler said the judicial system isn't doing enough to bring them justice.
50-year-old Mildred Dossman was arrested for distributing hydrocodone and Fentanyl.
However, Butler wants Dossman and three others there the night Jerome overdosed charged with murder.
"They were there. They were there when he died because someone gave him something," she said.
Natasha said her son got the drug from Dossman's son.
"She's being charged, but she's not being charged for his death," she said.
But according the experts, that's difficult.
"The district attorney has an obligation to not file a complaint that they don't think they can prove," said a local criminal defense attorney, Kinsey Reynolds.
She said in this case it would be difficult to convince a jury to bring a murder conviction.
"The reasonable doubt would probably be pretty significant in a case, especially where drugs were distributed and went through another party and then went to the person who took the drugs," Reynolds said.
The father of three would be 29 this Christmas, the first they'll spend without dad. But Natasha said he's with them in spirit and she will continue to fight for justice.
"If I don't get it on earth, you know, God will give justice. They have to answer for that," she said.
Dossman could serve up to 24 years in prison and pay a $1 million fine on her drug distribution charge.
She's currently on bail.
