Shemar Jackson (Photo: OCPO)
A 19-year-old suspect has been arrested and charged in the drug overdose death of a Toms River man, authorities announced Thursday.
Shemar Jackson, 19, of Galloway Township, has been arrested and charged with strict liability drug-induced death. The victim in the case was a 24-year-old man from Toms River who died Dec. 5, 2019. His name was not divulged in a statement from prosecutors.
After determining the Toms River man died of a drug overdose, a subsequent investigation by the county prosecutor’s office and township police revealed that Jackson was the supplier of heroin and Fentanyl that were sold to the victim on Dec. 4, 2019. A further investigation, prosecutors said, and laboratory analysis confirmed that the heroin and fentanyl found in the victim’s system – the same heroin and fentanyl supplied by Jackson and sold to the victim – were the cause of the man’s death.
Jackson was arrested at his residence in Galloway Township Thursday by officers of the Galloway Township Police Department and Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.
“We will continue to prosecute strict liability deaths to send a clear message to these drug dealers that you will be held responsible,” said Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer. “Anyone that chooses to pedal potentially deadly narcotics in Ocean County will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
