BATTLE CREEK (WKZO AM/FM) — An additional charge is being filed against 35-year-old Jerrell Finch, an alleged Battle Creek drug dealer who prosecutors claim left a customer who had overdosed out in the cold to die last January.
The Prosecutor claims Finch didn’t want to risk involvement with the police if he sought help for 45-year-old Michael Newman, so instead they allege he drove him out to an industrial park in Springfield and left him lying in freezing temperatures, shoeless and without a coat, where he was later found dead.
Finch had already been bound over to stand trial for second degree murder for leaving Newman out in the cold.
Now that drug tests have revealed that Newman overdosed on a combination of Fentanyl and Morphine, the Prosecution also wants to add a charge of providing drugs causing death.
The Defense attorney has asked for a hearing on the motion.
Conviction on either charge could mean up to life for Finch, who is also a habitual offender.
