Pair Charged In Ocean County Woman's Drug-Induced Death: Official

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Two people have been charged with providing the drugs that led to the overdose death of a Jackson Township woman in 2017, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Friday.

Genuine Baines, 19, of Trenton, and Lindsay Robson, 28, of Robbinsville, are both being held in the Ocean County Jail, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato and Jackson Police Chief Matthew D. Kunz said in a joint news release.

The two are charged in connection with the death of Lisa Guadagno, 42, of Jackson, under the state's strict liability for drug-induced death law, Coronato said.

"It’s critical during this opiate crisis we take strong punitive measures against dealers bringing death to those fighting addiction," Coronato said. Coronato's office has filed strict liability charges in more than 20 deaths in Ocean County.

Guadagno died Aug. 1, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor's office. Jackson police responded to a 911 call that Guadagno was unresponsive at her home and though they attempted life-saving measures, Guadagno died, Della Fave said.

Detective John Carroll of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Major Crimes Unit and Detective Robert Reiff of the Jackson Police Department immediately began an investigation into who was responsible for allegedly supplying the fatal narcotic to Guadagno, Della Fave said.

Baines and Robson were identified as the alleged supplying dealers as a result of the investigation, he said.

After receiving a toxicology and final autopsy report for Guadagno confirming her death was the result of a drug overdose, arrest warrants were authorized for both Baines and Robson, Della Fave said.

Robson was arrested in mid-December, however, Baines had fled, Della Fave said. He was arrested this week by the U.S. Marshal’s Service Fugitive Task Force at a home in Hamilton Township, Della Fave said.

Baines and Robson are charged with strict liability for a drug-induced death, possession of heroin, possession with the intent to distribute heroin and distribution of heroin, Della Fave said.

Della Fave said the following agencies participated in the investigation: Jackson Township Police Department, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit and Special Operations Group, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department CSI, U.S. Marshal’s Service Fugitive Task Force (Mercer County), and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Francis R. Hodgson III is the case prosecutor.

Genuine Baines and Lindsay Robson photos provided by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office via the Ocean County Corrections Department