Woman Charged In South Toms River Overdose Death

TOMS RIVER, NJ — An Atlantic County woman has been charged with selling the drugs that led to a South Toms River man's overdose death, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday.

Michele Baker, 39, of Pleasantville, has been charged with strict liability drug-induced death in the April 19 death of a 44-year-old man in South Toms River, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. Baker also has been charged with distribution of heroin/fentanyl, possession of heroin/fentanyl with intent to distribute and possession of heroin/fentanyl, Billhimer said.

Baker was charged on June 21, Billhimer said, after the investigation into the April 19 death at a home on South Main Street. South Toms River police found the man dead of an apparent overdose, he said.

Investigators determined Baker had sold heroin and fentanyl to the man on April 18, and results of a toxicology analysis confirmed the presence of both drugs in the victim's system, Billhimer said.

The Ocean County Medical Examiner ruled that, based on the toxicology analysis, the heroin and fentanyl found in the victim’s system was the cause of his death and the charges were filed, Billhimer said.

Baker was arrested June 26 in Howell on an unrelated shoplifting charge and taken to the Monmouth County Jail. On July 4 she was moved to the Ocean County Jail and held pending a detention hearing.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Narcotics Strike Force, and High Tech Crime Unit, the South Toms River Police Department and its Detective Bureau, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Pleasantville Police Department, Howell Township Police Department and Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office investigated.