A 21-year-old Akron woman who died after taking fentanyl caused her own death — not the person who gave her the drugs, defense attorney Scott Rilley argued Tuesday.
Summit County prosecutors, however, said during opening statements Tuesday that Jessica Canada Holmes’ dealer was responsible — and that Kevin Ecker was that dealer.
Ecker, 30, of Barberton, is the first person in Summit County being tried for involuntary manslaughter for providing fentanyl or heroin to someone who died after taking it.
Summit County is being more aggressive than other large counties in Ohio in using this charge to prosecute heroin/fentanyl deaths, pursuing more than two dozen cases in the past three years. The other defendants, however, have pleaded guilty before their cases went to trial, with most getting two to eight years in prison.
Ecker is charged with involuntary manslaughter and corrupting another with drugs for the March 22, 2015, death of Holmes, who was found unresponsive in her Akron home. He also faces numerous drug charges stemming from items found during two police searches of residences where he lived.
Ecker rejected a plea agreement that would have given him a 15-year prison sentence in exchange for his admission of guilt. His trial in Summit County Common Pleas Court before Judge Judy Hunter is expected to last through Monday.
Assistant Prosecutor Angela Poth-Wypasek painted a picture during her opening statement Wednesday of Ecker as a drug dealer, peddling marijuana, prescription drugs, heroin and fentanyl, a powerful pain killer often sold in place of or with heroin.
Holmes had surgery about three years ago and became hooked on pain killers and then switched to heroin and fentanyl, Poth-Wypasek said. She struggled with her addiction, achieving periods of sobriety.
Poth-Wypasek said Holmes’ family members and friends knew Ecker, and Holmes and her friends had purchased drugs from him.
“Addiction was Jessica Holmes’ Achilles heel,” Poth-Wypasek said. “Fentanyl was the poisonous arrow Kevin Ecker used to kill her.”
On the night before her death, Holmes provided a ride to two of her Burger King co-workers and Ecker, Poth-Wypasek said.
She said one of Holmes’ co-workers bought marijuana from Ecker before he was dropped off at his home.
The next morning, Holmes’ younger sister found her hunched over and unresponsive in her Florida Avenue house. The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Holmes died from a fentanyl overdose, Poth-Wypasek said.
Akron detectives found two small baggies of marijuana, a small piece of crumpled paper with residue on it, a snort straw and a powdery white substance determined to be fentanyl in Holmes’ bedroom, Poth-Wypasek.
Police searched Ecker’s Barberton home two days after Holmes death and the Akron home where he was living in February and found drugs, drug paraphernalia and cash in both residences, the prosecutor said.
Akron detectives Tim Harvey and Mike Schmidt said Ecker initially denied selling Holmes heroin, but later said he hadn’t sold to her for weeks and then for days, the prosecutor said.
The detectives asked Ecker if he told Holmes to “be careful” with heroin and fentanyl. His response was, “If I told her to be careful, it’s because it’s life or death. I tell everyone that,’” Poth-Wypasek said.
John Gamble, a friend whom Ecker lived with after he was released on bond, told detectives Ecker admitted to selling Holmes heroin before she died, the prosecutor said.
State crime lab analysts performed DNA tests on the drug items found in Holmes’ bedroom and compared them with a DNA sample provided by Ecker. Poth-Wypasek said Ecker “could not be excluded as a contributor” of the DNA on the items.
Rilley said he won’t dispute some of Ecker’s drug charges. He said his client is an addict who isn’t to blame for Holmes’ death.
“She knew the risks,” he said. “She accepted the risks. She voluntarily disregarded the risks.”
Rilley questioned whether the evidence collected in February can be tied to his client. He said two other people were living in the Akron home and Ecker was bedridden at the time with two broken legs.
Rilley also questioned the DNA evidence, saying the match doesn’t tell when or how the DNA was placed on the objects.
Rilley urged the jurors to look at each charge individually.
“The state will not be able to prove manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs or the (drug) possessions from Feb. 19,” Rilley said.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com or on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.