Navy Vet Injects Teens with Heroin, Pleads 'Not Guilty' to Manslaughter
A navy veteran who allegedly injected two Alaska teens with heroin pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, drug-related crimes, and tampering with evidence in an Alaska court on Thursday.
Sean Warner, 26, served as a medic in Afghanistan is facing charges of manslaughter over the death of 14-year-old Jena Dolstad.
Dolstad died on Dec. 29 following several days on life support at a local hospital after being injected with the fatal drug.
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According to court documents, the high school freshman was discovered unconscious on Warner’s bed on Dec. 23 after Warner had injected the teen after she told him that she wanted to try the drug, but did not want to inject herself.
Hospital officials found that Dolstad had heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine in her bloodstream and authorities believe that the girl was injected with “China White” heroin, a more potent version of the drug. She suffered severe damage to both her brain and heart.
Court documents allege that after he found the unconscious teen, Warner attempted to hide evidence of drug related activity in his apartment and also waited for hours before calling emergency assistance to aid the unconscious teen.
Warner is also facing a new charge for allegedly injecting another teen, identified only as 17-year-old R.H., with heroin earlier in the month.
Warner’s family has said that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and believe he began using the fatal drug following his return from the conflict zone.
“He’s terribly remorseful. He’s in a very difficult spot,” Warner’s uncle Doug Tweedie told The Associated Press.
Tweedie also told local television station KTUU that his nephew was a “regular guy,” but suffering from PTSD changed him.
“(His doctors) did medicate him and unfortunately, his medications, it didn’t seem to be enough, so he went to the streets,” he told the television station.
Warner’s trial is set for March 27. Authorities believe that he did not intend to cause harm to the teenagers.
