Avon Man Indicted In Overdose Death At Rumson Addiction Recovery Center

The addiction center was supposed to be a place where Christoper L. Pesce could recover from drug addiction.

Instead, it was the place where he died of a heroin overdose.

And the man charged with supplying it to him was indicted by a Monmouth County grand jury recently on one count of first degree strict liability for drug induced deaths and one count of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor J. Gramiccioni said.

The jury recently indicted Michael Renna, 26, Sylvania Avenue, Avon-by-the-Sea on both counts. If he is convicted, he could face up to 20 years in state prison under the “No Early Release Act” which requires him to serve 85 percent of his sentence, Gramiccioni said.

Pesce died on Oct. 13, 2013. Rumson police were called to Oxford House, 61 South Ward Avenue, at 8:15 p.m. that night, where they found Pesce already dead. An autopsy determined that he died of acute heroin toxicity, Gramiccioni said.

Rumson police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, determined that Pesce obtained the fatal doses of heroin from Renna, an acquaintance, in Asbury Park on the night of October 12, 2013.

Renna was charged on August 22, 2014. Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Honora O‘Brien Kilgallen, set Renna’s bail at $200,000 cash. Renna remains free on bail.