Father Comes Home to Find Sleeping Son Died of Heroin Overdose; Racine and Milwaukee Men Charged

ST FRANCIS, WI — It was the night of July 26, and the father of Joseph J. Flees had to get up to work early in the morning.

It was 10 p.m. and the two talked about dinner plans for the next night.

When Flees' father left for work at 5:45 a.m., he saw his son on the couch sleeping, making what he believed to be snoring sounds.

It was the last time he would see his son alive.

When he returned from work by 4 p.m. Flees' father saw that his son was still laying in the same position as he was when he left for work that morning.

To his horror, St. Francis police confirmed his worst fears: his son was deceased.

The Investigation

Investigators conducted a follow-up investigation into the death of the Fless in this case.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County, investigators learned Flees obtained quantities of heroin on two occasions on the day of July 25, 2016. The first incident occurred at approximately 6:45 p.m. In that incident, the victim and his friend met with Travis McKenzie, and McKenzie provided the victim with approximately $30 worth of heroin.

Police believe the second incident occurred between 10 and 11 p.m. In that incident, the Flees met with Brandon Kaczmarek. Kaczmarek obtained heroin from his supplier and provided it to Flees in the area of 5th and Becher. Police detectives reviewed the phone log from the Flees' cell phone and noted contacts between the he and McKenzie, as well as later contacts between he and Kaczmarek.

According to the criminal complaint, the Milwaukee County Medical Examimer's report reflects that Flees had active metabolites of heroin in his blood stream at the time of his death.

Two Suspects Implicated in Len Bias Law

The two men accused of delivering heroin to Flees, Brandon Kaczmarek of Milwaukee and Travis McKenzie, of Racine, have been charged with First Degree Reckless Homicide in the death of Flees, and delivery of a controlled substance. If convicted, both face up to 32-and-a-half years behind bars on both counts against them.
The First Degree Reckless Homicide charge in this case is known as the Len Bias Law - and more law enforcement are implicating the deliverers of drugs as more cases - especially heroin - lead to fatal overdose cases.

The Len Bias Law

The Len Bias law was signed into law in Wisconsin in 1988. The law was named college basketball star Len Bias, who overdosed on cocaine mere days after he was drafted into the NBA in 1986.
According to a FOX 6 report, most district attorneys in southeastern Wisconsin agree that it was rarely used until recently.

FOX 6 reported that in Milwaukee County alone, there were 255 overdose deaths in 2015 with 16 of them resulting in prosecutions under Len Bias. And in Waukesha County, there were 44 overdose deaths in 2015, five of which resulted in charges.

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