Dwight Musson Guilty In Becky Sova's '13 Heroin Death

JOLIET, IL - A month-long bench trial before Will County Circuit Judge Dave Carlson has ended with a favorable verdict for the Will County State's Attorney's Office and for the family of the late Becky Sova. Carlson found Shorewood doper Dwight Musson guilty of drug-induced homicide and guilty of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance. Musson is an ex-convict who has been involved in dealing heroin among his other assorted crimes, according to testimony from this month's trial at the Will County Courthouse.

Back in June 2013, Sova, a recent Joliet West graduate, overdosed inside Musson's home in Shorewood. Musson was 34 at the time. She was only 18. Trial testimony revealed that Musson got up and went to work without checking on her after the two partied together and used heroin at his home in the 200 block of Shorewood's Ravinia Drive. Eventually, several hours later, he brought her to Saint Joseph's hospital where she later died. Patch reported in 2013 that a Will County Coroner's investigation determined that Becky Sova died on July 2 of opiate intoxication.

After being charged with drug-induced homicide, Musson hired Joliet criminal defense attorneys Cosmo Tedone and Joseph Polito, the retired Will County judge, to represent him. During the trial in front of Judge Carlson, defense lawyers struggled to overcome the prosecution's theory that it was Musson who was the dope peddler who sold Sova the heroin that contributed to her death.

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Instead, the defense came up with a theory that Musson and Sova drove around together to buy the heroin from some mysterious unnamed heroin dealer who Musson supposedly knew.

Prosecutors countered that Musson's story to police was dubious.

At the time of his trial, Musson had been free after posting bond. He will remain free until his sentencing, which is still several weeks away.

Image of Becky Sova via Fred C. Dames Funeral Home

Mugshot of Dwight Musson via Will County Sheriff's Department