Man Who Sold Fentanyl Causing LI Woman's Fatal Overdose Sentenced: DA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — The man who admitted to selling a lethal dose of fentanyl that killed a woman in 2022 was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Wednesday.

Jaquan Casserly, 34, of Holbrook, also faces five years of post-release supervision. Casserly pleaded guilty in April to selling fentanyl to Chelsey Murray, 31, of Lake Grove, the DA said. Casserly was charged with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance after Murray's death.

"This defendant is responsible for cutting a 31-year-old woman's life short by selling her a deadly mix of fentanyl and heroin," Tierney said in a news release. "His conviction and sentence remove a dangerous individual from the streets of Suffolk County, but there is more work to be done. I will continue to stand by Chelsey Murray’s heartbroken parents as I urge lawmakers to pass Chelsey's Law, which provides additional penalties for causing overdose deaths."

Chelsey’s parents, Gene and Sue Murray, recently joined Tierney in Albany in January to call for New York state lawmakers to pass Chelsey’s Law. If passed, prosecutors would be allowed to charge a drug dealer with manslaughter or aggravated manslaughter for knowingly selling a drug that causes a person to fatally overdose.

Murray was found unresponsive in the bathroom by her mother on Aug. 18, 2022, and police responded to the Murray residence, according to court documents. Murray was administered Narcan, which works to reverse the effects of fentanyl, and she regained a pulse, officials said. Murray was then transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where she died several days later as a result of a drug overdose, prosecutors said.

Following Murray's hospitalization, an undercover detective from the Suffolk County Police
Department contacted Casserly and arranged for a sale of narcotics, investigators said. Casserly then sold the detective a combination of heroin and fentanyl contained in a red glassine envelope, officials said. Police established the combination was similar to the one that Gene Murray found in the bathroom where his daughter overdosed, authorities said.

On Aug. 27, 2022, police executed a search warrant at Casserly’s Holbrook home and recovered a combination of heroin and fentanyl, a digital scale used to weigh narcotics, red and black glassine/wax envelopes used to package narcotics, a pair of metal knuckles, and Casserly’s cell phone, prosecutors said. The red envelopes looked similar to the ones sold to the undercover detective, officials said.

A search of Casserly’s phone showed that he arranged to meet Chelsey on Aug. 17, 2022, offering to sell her "fetty mix," a street term used to describe a mix of fentanyl and heroin, the DA said.

Before Murray's death, Casserly was previously convicted of third-degree attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2018, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in 2011.

Casserly pleaded guilty on April 5. He was sentenced Wednesday. He was represented by Christopher Brocato.