Shemar Jackson (Photo: OCPO)
A man has entered a guilty plea in the strict liability case stemming from the death of a Toms River man in a heroin and fentanyl overdose.
Shemar Jackson, 22, of Galloway Township, pleaded guilty to strict liability drug-induced death before Superior Court Judge Lisa A. Puglisi on Monday. At the time of his sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 14, the state will be recommending a seven-year prison term, according to a statement from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
The case began Dec. 5, 2019, when officers from the Toms River Township Police Department responded to a township residence for a report of a 24-year-old unresponsive male. Upon arrival, responding officers discovered that the man was already deceased from an apparent drug overdose.
A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, and Toms River Township Police Department, revealed that Jackson was the supplier of heroin and fentanyl that were distributed to the victim on Dec. 4, 2019. Further investigation and laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of heroin and fentanyl in the victim’s system, which caused his death. On January 23, 2020, Jackson was arrested at his residence in Galloway Township by Officers of the Galloway Township Police Department and Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office. He was transported to the Ocean County Jail, and later released as a consequence of the state’s bail reform law.
