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Neighbors Charged In Teen's Heroin Overdose Death Due In Court

WARREN (WWJ) - Two Warren residents accused of supplying heroin that led to the deadly overdose of a teenager are due in court Tuesday.

Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith says Leslie Metcalfe and Donald McCoy provided a fatal dose of heroin to their neighbor, 16-year old Sierra Lawson, then refused to call 911 when the teen stopped breathing.

Metcalfe and McCoy, who face up to life in prison, are scheduled to appear in 37th District Court for a preliminary exam on charges of delivery of a controlled substance causing death.

Authorities say Lawson was with her boyfriend and high on Xanax when she got into a fight with her mother, who recognized that both were high on narcotics. Following the confrontation with her mother, officials say Lawson sent a series of texts to Metcalfe, her neighbor, stating that she had already taken five Xanax pills and needed some help buying heroin.

Metcalfe responded that she would be able to find a source to buy the heroin, and called another neighbor, McCoy, to go to Detroit to score the drug. Lawson gave McCoy $50 to buy the heroin, Smith said. Metcalfe, 40, and McCoy, 45 then took a bus to 8 Mile and Van Dyke where they obtained packets of heroin, according to police.

After the pair returned to Warren, they were joined by Lawson and her boyfriend in Metcalfe's trailer and all four snorted a packet each, authorities said; Lawson passed out.

Smith says Metcalfe later discovered Lawson had stopped breathing and was cold to the touch, but refused call 911 to avoid arrest. A neighbor attempted CPR on Lawson and then eventually called police when she couldn't be revived. Metcalfe and McCoy both fled the scene before police arrived.

Lawson was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Her boyfriend, Smith said, also nearly died from an overdose.

McCoy and Metcalfe remain in custody at the Macomb County Jail in lieu of $1 million bonds.

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