Braidwood Heroin Death Of Woman, Unborn Child Leads To Charges

BRAIDWOOD, IL — A 26-year-old Gardner resident finds himself behind bars after Braidwood Police say he caused the heroin overdose death of a Braidwood woman and her unborn child in 2018. Colin West was charged with drug-induced homicide, delivery of a controlled substance, involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide of an unborn child, according to the Braidwood Police Department.

The charges stem from the Nov. 3, 2018, deaths in Braidwood of Samantha Kile and Jaxsen Kile. According to police, West was captured on Friday, Dec. 13, by the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, along with officers from the Braidwood Police Department.

His bail was set at $1 million.

The announcement of West's arrest drew a flood of comments from readers on the Braidwood Police Facebook page:

• "To all my friends. This story is about the death of my great niece and her unborn baby had to share the good news. Long way to go from here, but it's a start. My niece, kim, and her husband chris are so very happy. Merry Christmas everyone."
• "I'm pretty sure he is partially responsible but she chose to use and to use during pregnancy. I do not know either. This world plays the blame game. It's always someone else's fault. The only one not at fault here is the baby."
• "Way to go BPD and other agencies!!!"
• "This is fantastic!! Justice for Samantha and Jaxson. Sending hugs Kim. Perfect timing for Christmas."
• "I wanna know why everyone is more mad at the dealer than the user. They are equally (expletive) up and take a 50 50 share in this stupid repetition of death and drugs. I also wanna know how ppl can make the abortion case that it's not a human life when they abort a baby BUT then charge him with homicide of an unborn child."

West is now in the custody of the Grundy County Jail in Morris.