Bay Area Suspect Charged With Murder For In-Custody Death By DA's Office

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — The district attorney's office have charged a 34-year-old woman with murder for selling fentanyl to a fellow inmate who died Sept. 29 in Redwood City, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office have charged Ashley J. Gromnicki with the murder of Markeisha Monique Renee Blount, prosecutors said.

At approximately 6 a.m. on Sept. 29, deputies at the Maple Street Correctional Center in San Mateo County reported responding to an incarcerated individual, Markeisha Monique Renee Blount, who was experiencing a medical emergency within a housing unit.

Sheriff’s Office personnel said they immediately began administering lifesaving measures, including Narcan as a precautionary measure, until medical staff arrived. Despite their efforts, medical personnel pronounced Blount dead at the correctional facility.

Sheriff’s detectives investigating the death said they learned that Gromnicki, already in custody, brought fentanyl-laced drugs into the facility and gave them to Blount.

Gromnicki had been in custody for charges related to narcotics and theft.

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday they are investigating the in-custody death of Blount at a San Mateo County Jail as a homicide and had sent the case to the district attorney's office.