Canton Township woman convicted of selling deadly drugs
A Canton Township woman accused of selling drugs to another woman who later overdosed and died in 2019 was convicted on all charges Wednesday.
Nyieka Delores Speer, 29, was convicted by a Washington County jury of felony charges of drug delivery resulting in death, possession with intent to deliver and criminal use of a communication facility following a two-day trial before Judge Brandon Neuman.
Speer was accused by state police of selling heroin that included a combination of fentanyl and morphine to 25-year-old Sara Nicole Morrison Jones, who overdosed and died April 12, 2019. Speer was charged and arrested in January 2020.
“The DA’s office has spent a lot of time and effort in investigating these crimes because we do feel if we can get the dealers of these drugs that are killing these people, not only can we save lives in the future but we can bring a little closure for the families in this case,” said Assistant District Attorney Rachel Wheeler, who prosecuted the case.
Defense attorney Mark Adams said he plans to appeal the verdict to the state Superior Court because he received numerous flash drive memory cards from the prosecution Tuesday night containing 2,200 jail phone calls by his client. He said didn’t have time to listen to the 72 hours worth of dialogue since it was delivered in the middle of the trial, so he thinks he has grounds for an appeal.
“That would have been impossible for me to review,” Adams said.
The trial began Tuesday morning in Washington County Court, and the jury returned its verdict shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday after deliberating for more than five hours. Speer is scheduled to be sentenced by Neuman on Oct. 13.
However, the trial was nearly derailed Wednesday morning when a juror notified the court about testing positive for COVID-19. The remaining jurors were then questioned whether they wanted to continue, and only one person said they did not feel comfortable remaining on the jury. That left 12 jurors remaining with all of them wearing face masks for the rest of testimony Wednesday before beginning deliberations in the early afternoon.