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Judge expresses concern Nasser Hamad’s son headed for overdose death
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A judge on Monday expressed concern that Eimad N. Hamad, 23, son of Nasser Hamad, 48, might be dead from a drug overdose soon if things don’t change.
“To me, this is a statistic waiting to happen,” Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court said after he heard the list of violations and Eimad Hamad’s explanations for them.
Eimad Hamad was in court Monday because the Trumbull County Adult Probation Department said Eimad Hamad overdosed on drugs May 23, failed to show up to be tested for drugs in June, tested positive for fentanyl Nov. 2 and left the state without permission.
Eimad Hamad’s probation is because he was convicted in 2014 in Trumbull County of receiving stolen property and forgery.
His father, Nasser Hamad, was sentenced Nov. 8 by a different Trumbull County judge to 36 years to life in prison for killing two young men and injuring three other people who came to his house on state Route 46 in Howland on Feb. 25 in an ongoing dispute.
Allegations of drug abuse were rampant in the trial but mostly leveled by Nasser Hamad and his girlfriend, Tracy Hendrickson, against others.
After hearing the list of violations and the probation department’s recommendation that Eimad Hamad get credit for the 15 days he already has served in the county jail and be released, the judge expressed concern that letting him go free might be the end of his life.
Atty Jeff Limbian, who represents Eimad Hamad, said his client wants to return to the Cleveland area because he did better there.
The judge would have to approve moving probation to Cuyahoga County. Limbian added that his client’s father’s murder trial “contributed to the tribulations in [Eimad’s] life.”
Eimad Hamad then told the judge he never intentionally did fentanyl and thinks the fentanyl he ingested was hidden in marijuana.
But the judge said such comments were an indication that Eimad Hamad is not taking responsibility for his actions.
“You know what kind of people talk like that? Drug addicts,” the judge said.
The judge reset the case for another week so that he could learn more about the type of supervision he would get in Cuyahoga County.
A Howland police report says Eimad Hamad’s overdose took place May 23 at his father’s house, and Tracy Hendrickson was there. Hendrickson called 911 shortly after midnight, saying she woke to a crash and found Eimad Hamad unconscious on the floor.
A police officer reported finding Eimad Hamad on the couch unconscious with gurgling-breath sounds. Howland paramedics administered two doses of the opiate reversal drug naloxone with a nasal spray, but Eimad Hamad did not respond.
They administered two more doses intravenously, and he regained consciousness. When paramedics asked Eimad Hamad what he took he said “apparently a bad batch of heroin,” police said.
Eimad Hamad refused to be transported to the hospital to be treated further but said he would have his girlfriend take him for treatment.