GUILTY OH - Jonathan Minard, 14, found deceased, Carroll County, 13 April 2019

[Seattle1]

Just to clarify on my post above, we've no idea if any of these factors contributed to Jonathan's death. It's just some background information on the terrible problems many Ohio counties are dealing with these days. I hope they all find a way to prevent deaths from opioid overdoses.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office says it cannot reveal how Jonathan came into contact with fentanyl but did say that the case is also being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. “This takes time and we want to be thorough,” Carroll County Sheriff Dale Williams wrote. bbm

Given the sources involved in the investigation of JM's death, I believe it's very much relevant. MOO

 

[Betty P]

Given the sources involved in the investigation of JM's death, I believe it's very much relevant. MOO

Sad to say, its probably not difficult to find fentanyl in that area if you hang around with the drug crowd. The thing is, Jonathan probably didn't intend to hang out with a drug crowd. He wanted to earn extra money working on a farm on weekends.

 

[katydid23]

That's^^ what I want to understand. Did Jonathan willingly, enthusiastically, purchase something to get high with?

Or did someone slip him something?

Was Jonathan present at the farm, working that morning? Or did he never make it to work after the sleepover with the mystery acquaintance?

 

[Betty P]

That's^^ what I want to understand. Did Jonathan willingly, enthusiastically, purchase something to get high with?

Or did someone slip him something?

Was Jonathan present at the farm, working that morning? Or did he never make it to work after the sleepover with the mystery acquaintance?

JMO, it's highly doubtful a boy his age would seek out fentanyl. There aren't any stats yet for fentanyl, but I found some recent ones about heroin use.

In 2013, the average age at which someone first used heroin was 24.5 years.

Trends in Heroin Use in the United States: 2002 to 2013

Jonathan's parents weren't drug users, so for him to seek out a dangerous drug like fentanyl would be extremely rare.

People who use fentanyl are usually addicts who have used other opioids or heroin previously.

Introduction

No way that young man was wanting to take fentanyl, nor was he an experienced user. JMO

 

[katydid23]

JMO, it's highly doubtful a boy his age would seek out fentanyl. There aren't any stats yet for fentanyl, but I found some recent ones about heroin use.

In 2013, the average age at which someone first used heroin was 24.5 years.

Trends in Heroin Use in the United States: 2002 to 2013

Jonathan's parents weren't drug users, so for him to seek out a dangerous drug like fentanyl would be extremely rare.

People who use fentanyl are usually addicts who have used other opioids or heroin previously.

Introduction

No way that young man was wanting to take fentanyl, nor was he an experienced user. JMO

I agree. Which is why I wonder if he even showed up to work on the farm early that morning.

I think something went sideways during the sleepover.

 

[Steph8angels]

Justice for Jonathan
Desecration of body.
Burying a body on private land.
Disposing of human body in gross manner.
Get the ball rolling with charges they can prove. He was with an adult in charge.
We know he did not bury himself.
He was a minor for God's sake.

Rattle somebody's chain.
This is injustice and I am shocked at the local level of LE and the DA's office.
Sorry Johnathan should be in school as a happy young man right now. Not his family visiting him at his grave site. He has no voice now. I would hope his high school brings some program to offer tools to these dangers of the drug epidemic. See something say something. Maybe thats what Johnathan would of done. But bless his heart he did not get that chance.

 

[Bethan]

I hardly ever post here but my brother’s friend overdosed on fentanyl about 5 years ago. She was a young, 20-something 110 lbs. girl. While many may already know they exist, no one has mentioned fentanyl patches. It’s on my mind while reading because as a nurse in a nursing home, the only form of fentanyl in our facility is in patch form. Also, the girl who overdosed was using patches. The transdermal patch is made to release the fentanyl slowly over a 3 day span, and then you discard and put on a new patch. I learned upon the girl’s death that kids will chew on the patches and make all the medication release at once. You can also boil patches and mix them with tea, juice, alcoholic drinks, etc. May not be relevant in this case but wanted to put that out there.

After reading @VerbalCues post, I’ve highlighted what may be very relevant to this case.

The toothache story may be completely true.

Possibly a friend/acquaintance who used/had access to fentanyl patches, gave Jonathan one to chew on, thinking this would alleviate the toothache & unaware of the very serious consequences this could have ( particularly in a youngster who was not used to the drug). He then panicked & instead of calling the emergency services, hid Jonathan’s body.

I can see how this could have been the scenario.

 

[Detectivediva]

I used to live in a rural area and tbh...(many) teens in such an area will literally try anything. I'm guessing this is also a rural area in Ohio (and my apologies for the assumption if not).

It's doubtful that J seeked out an opiate but if it was something new and he was offered...imo he likely tried it. Since it's a patch it's less scary (to a kid) than injecting H. May he rest in peace and may whomever buried him be held accountable for the crime.

 

[Betty P]

After reading @VerbalCues post, I’ve highlighted what may be very relevant to this case.

The toothache story may be completely true.

Possibly a friend/acquaintance who used/had access to fentanyl patches, gave Jonathan one to chew on, thinking this would alleviate the toothache & unaware of the very serious consequences this could have ( particularly in a youngster who was not used to the drug). He then panicked & instead of calling the emergency services, hid Jonathan’s body.

I can see how this could have been the scenario.

If so, why didn't they just let him call his parents to come pick him up? If he was there to work on the farm, with a bad toothache he wouldn't have been able to work. Why not just let him go home? JMO, I'm doubtful he had a toothache. Why would he go work on a farm for a weekend if he was in pain? His parents know if he had any recent dental issues.

Sounds like an excuse someone told LE to explain why they slipped him a dangerous drug that killed him.

What if you were a farm worker/relative of a farm owner who was doing drugs. You have your drug buddies over for the weekend to party and take fentanyl. There's this 14 yo kid hanging around, pestering everyone, so you slip him some fentanyl to quiet him down. What if he saw what you were doing and threatened to tell someone? It's not like drug addicts have the best judgment or think of anything beyond getting high again.

ETA: I have a hard time getting past the part of having a party to take fentanyl. How is it a party when everyone just passes out? IDK, but apparently, from reading the news, its a thing.

ETA2: The most compelling clue to me is that LE still hasn't revealed the location of the farm where Jonathan died or the property where he was buried. That's very suspicious, JMO.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Hmmm....lots of names made public in this article. Dealers protecting their investment that's for sure.

California to Ohio drug ring busted by Feds

CLEVELAND — Seventeen people have been indicted for their roles in a conspiracy to bring large amounts of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana from California to the Cleveland area to sell.

Teams of law enforcement officers hit the streets early Tuesday morning across Northeast Ohio.

According to the indictment, the drugs were sent to Ohio from California via domestic shipping.

"At a time when a record number of our neighbors were dying from drug overdoses, this organization allegedly brought in large amounts of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine from California and sold it all over Northeast Ohio," U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said. "Some members of the conspiracy used rifles and other firearms to protect their products while others laundered tens of thousands of dollars in drug money."

 

[ChiCubs2016]

If so, why didn't they just let him call his parents to come pick him up? If he was there to work on the farm, with a bad toothache he wouldn't have been able to work. Why not just let him go home? JMO, I'm doubtful he had a toothache. Why would he go work on a farm for a weekend if he was in pain? His parents know if he had any recent dental issues.

Sounds like an excuse someone told LE to explain why they slipped him a dangerous drug that killed him.

What if you were a farm worker/relative of a farm owner who was doing drugs. You have your drug buddies over for the weekend to party and take fentanyl. There's this 14 yo kid hanging around, pestering everyone, so you slip him some fentanyl to quiet him down. What if he saw what you were doing and threatened to tell someone? It's not like drug addicts have the best judgment or think of anything beyond getting high again.

ETA: I have a hard time getting past the part of having a party to take fentanyl. How is it a party when everyone just passes out? IDK, but apparently, from reading the news, its a thing.

ETA2: The most compelling clue to me is that LE still hasn't revealed the location of the farm where Jonathan died or the property where he was buried. That's very suspicious, JMO.

And I would think an autopsy may have been able to find a bd tooth, correct? I am not buying the toothache either.

 

[Seattle1]

That's^^ what I want to understand. Did Jonathan willingly, enthusiastically, purchase something to get high with?

Or did someone slip him something?

Was Jonathan present at the farm, working that morning? Or did he never make it to work after the sleepover with the mystery acquaintance?

From his obituary, we know this 14 year old boy had a long history with the dairy farm. This is hard work for a child turned teen, and either was a passion for him or an escape. Perhaps he had a lot of unsupervised freedom at the farm. This is a normal age for experimenting for all kids.

Jonathan was currently a 7th grade student at the Bell-Herron Middle School in Carrollton. He had also been working on a farm for several years where he assisted in feeding, milking, and caring for the cattle, as well as other necessary dairy farm chores.

JM did not put himself in a shallow grave.

There's no doubt that with what we know thus far, the suspect could've been charged immediately with abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence, but for some reason the suspect was not immediately arrested on these charges -- and still hasn't! Why?

If we can get the answer to this question, I believe your questions will also be answered.

I do believe JM got the fentanyl where he was working, and someone here is a protected witness. Hope authorities turn the lights on soon. Really need some assurance that somebody will be held accountable.

MOO

 

[Seattle1]

And I would think an autopsy may have been able to find a bd tooth, correct? I am not buying the toothache either.

I agree that autopsy would likely reveal tooth abscess, and perhaps this will be evident when full autopsy released to public, and/or toothache will be proven untrue.

Can't ignore the possibility that JM believed the fentanyl would provide relief and took some without interference. If so, I don't think JM believed it would kill him.

Reportedly, JM was going to call his parents for a ride home-- because of an alleged toothache, but according to JM's mom, she never got the call. I suppose JM could have phoned home, and call went unanswered.

We need to know both who found JM and who buried him. Given no arrest to date, I'm beginning to wonder if the suspect is responsible for the fentanyl, and not the burial of JM. I think it's possible that JM was left alone believing he was leaving, and hours later found deceased.

No matter the scenario, there's got to be a reason why at minimum, there's been no arrest yet for burying JM (i.e., abuse of corpse of tampering with physical evidence).

MOO

 

[Seattle1]

I’m guessing they’re getting close. Drug dealers are quite clever at protecting their job security. LE must tread carefully for their own safety. That takes time, especially if their intent or focus is someone much higher on the food chain, which is my suspicion. Otherwise, this local penny dealer would have been arrested by now. That’s just my opinion though.

The NOLETF is a long-standing multi-agency task force comprised of investigators from the FBI, DEA, IRS , U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, and a dozen law enforcement agencies in northeast Ohio. The NOLETF is also one of the initial Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiatives. HIDTA supports and helps coordinate numerous Ohio drug task forces in their efforts to eliminate or reduce drug trafficking in Ohio.

California to Ohio drug ring busted by Feds

 

[Betty P]

Hmmm....lots of names made public in this article. Dealers protecting their investment that's for sure.

California to Ohio drug ring busted by Feds

CLEVELAND — Seventeen people have been indicted for their roles in a conspiracy to bring large amounts of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana from California to the Cleveland area to sell.

Teams of law enforcement officers hit the streets early Tuesday morning across Northeast Ohio.

According to the indictment, the drugs were sent to Ohio from California via domestic shipping.

"At a time when a record number of our neighbors were dying from drug overdoses, this organization allegedly brought in large amounts of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine from California and sold it all over Northeast Ohio," U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said. "Some members of the conspiracy used rifles and other firearms to protect their products while others laundered tens of thousands of dollars in drug money."

Something interesting to note in that article:

The case was investigated by the Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force (NOLETF) and SouthEast Area Law Enforcement Narcotics Task Force, a collaboration of suburban northeast Ohio police departments.

The NOLETF is a long-standing multi-agency task force comprised of investigators from the FBI, DEA, IRS , U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, and a dozen law enforcement agencies in northeast Ohio. The NOLETF is also one of the initial Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiatives. HIDTA supports and helps coordinate numerous Ohio drug task forces in their efforts to eliminate or reduce drug trafficking in Ohio.

These are all Cuyahoga County (Greater Cleveland) Agencies and the drug busts were done in CuyCo. These task forces regularly work with the FBI and DEA. But the drugs in Carroll County probably didn't come from CuyCo. More likely they came directly from California (or whichever origin) to Akrton/Canton area or Youngstown.

Here was a big heroin bust the feds did in Youngstown last winter

Feds bust heroin ring in Youngstown

Sadly, it wasn't enough to keep Jonathan from being killed. I hope LE in that area crack down harder on their local drug dealers.

 

[Betty P]

I agree that autopsy would likely reveal tooth abscess, and perhaps this will be evident when full autopsy released to public, and/or toothache will be proven untrue.

Can't ignore the possibility that JM believed the fentanyl would provide relief and took some without interference. If so, I don't think JM believed it would kill him.

Reportedly, JM was going to call his parents for a ride home-- because of an alleged toothache, but according to JM's mom, she never got the call. I suppose JM could have phoned home, and call went unanswered.

We need to know both who found JM and who buried him. Given no arrest to date, I'm beginning to wonder if the suspect is responsible for the fentanyl, and not the burial of JM. I think it's possible that JM was left alone believing he was leaving, and hours later found deceased.

No matter the scenario, there's got to be a reason why at minimum, there's been no arrest yet for burying JM (i.e., abuse of corpse of tampering with physical evidence).

MOO

JMO, if this was just a tragic mistake on the part of JM, LE would have said so.

The coroner ruled his death a homicide

Coroner issues cause of death of 14-year-old Jonathan Minard

According to Ohio law, that means his death was caused by someone else

Lawriter - ORC

They didn't call it reckless or negligent homicide.

Again, the quotes from the coroner and the county prosecuting attorney are odd

“Homicide, in death investigation and forensic medicine, simply means that the death was caused by the actions or omissions of another person”
County Coroner Dr. Mandal B Haas

“I have been in contact with Carroll County Coroner, Dr. Mandal B. Haas, and I have been advised of his findings in the cause and manner of death of Jonathan Minard. While the coroner’s verdict is certainly helpful, it is not dispositive of a criminal investigation. The coroner’s verdict must be considered with other investigative efforts of law enforcement. The investigation is still ongoing, and it is carefully being pursued with all deliberate speed. We will take appropriate legal action when we are comfortable that the investigation is sufficiently complete do so. Since the investigation continues, it is not appropriate to offer any further comment on the case in an effort to preserve the integrity of it.”
Steven D. Barnett- Carroll County Prosecuting Attorney

If the coroner says it's a homicide, but the county prosecuting attorney says it doesn't need a criminal investigation, what kind of investigation has he been doing for the last several months on a homicide case? A civil investigation? What other kind of investigation is there?

 

[claudianunes]

Like other posters have said, if he had overdosed on another drug I wouldn't find it so suspicious, but fentanyl? He was in 7th grade. It's not like he was smoking pot or even taking pills, it was fentanyl. And fentanyl doesn't really sound like "7th grade boy working on a farm".

 

[Seattle1]

If the coroner says it's a homicide, but the county prosecuting attorney says it doesn't need a criminal investigation, what kind of investigation has he been doing for the last several months on a homicide case? A civil investigation? What other kind of investigation is there?

According to the quoted references by Coroner -- his finding of homicide also could mean not getting JM aid -- i.e., death caused by the omission of another person.

I think you misunderstood. Accidental overdose would be allegation by suspect, and not something announced by LE. Tragic mistake would be the position for the defense to support, not for LE to accept on face value when trying to hold suspect criminally liable. Why bury JM if tragic mistake?

"While Coroner's verdict is certainly helpful, it is NOT dispositive of a criminal investigation." Criminal is not done.

Investigation has to continue to find evidence to bring charges that can be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Apparently, what LE has right now does not make for a case prosecutors believe they can prove.

And so we continue to wait for justice to Jonathan.

MOO

 

[Betty P]

Link to WKYC TV article from yesterday about Jonathan. Very interesting comments on the FB version of this article.

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=jonathan minard&epa=SEARCH_BOX

I understand a little more about this case and they really do need to arrest the person involved in Jonathan's death. The sheriff has the evidence, the autopsy is complete. They know who Jonathan was with that night and where his body was taken and buried. Jonathan's family also probably has access to all this information and have been very patient.

 

[Seattle1]

Like other posters have said, if he had overdosed on another drug I wouldn't find it so suspicious, but fentanyl? He was in 7th grade. It's not like he was smoking pot or even taking pills, it was fentanyl. And fentanyl doesn't really sound like "7th grade boy working on a farm".

I agree, and only reason I'm not quick to discount the toothache if he took this drug for pain.

Another poster cited this drug often dispensed as transdermal patch making it very dangerous to the inexperienced. MOO