Wednesday, August 8, 2001
A third victim who police believe bought heroin in Youngstown died in Greenville Regional Hospital, the Mercer coroner said.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Detectives have issued a plea to whoever sold heroin on the North Side to two men: Flush it before more people die.
Capt. Robert Kane, chief of detectives, said Jeffrey Perkins and Charles Mabry died Sunday after using heroin they bought together Saturday evening at an Otis Street apartment in the Westlake Apartments area. A witness saw them shoot up in a house on the North Side, Kane said.
Kane said police are checking out a report that a third death may have occurred in Mercer County.
Mercer Coroner Brad McGonigle said Beau J. Dougherty, 20, of Transfer, Pa., died about noon Saturday in UPMC Horizon Hospital in Greenville from a heroin overdose. "It was a very potent batch this individual got hold of," McGonigle said.
Where it's from: The coroner said Dougherty was found in Pymatuning Township, and the police chief there, John Miller, believes the heroin came from Youngstown.
Kane said it's possible the heroin Perkins and Mabry used was stronger than usual or the additive used to cut its strength was tainted.
"We're hoping whoever sold it flushes it now before there are more deaths," he said.
Perkins, 42, of Wirt Street, was found dead on a Clyde Street porch about 4 a.m. Sunday, where someone had dragged him. His pants were down around his ankles, and he was covered with grass clippings.
Mabry, 44, of Cleveland, formerly of Youngstown was found dead by Euclid police about noon Sunday in the back seat of a car. Reports show the man driving the car Mabry was found in also had accompanied Perkins and Mabry to buy the heroin.
Kane said the coroner's office needs a toxicology report to determine the cause of Perkins' death.
Autopsy: Billy Arnaut, investigator for Coroner David M. Kennedy, said the results of the tests, done by Tri-State Labs, could take a week. He said an autopsy performed Monday didn't show death by trauma or disease.
Kane said detectives visited Perkins' father's house on the South Side on Sunday morning but found no one there.
Euclid police had been contacted by a Perkins family member who expressed concern for Mabry, reports show.
meade@vindy.com