Man Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter for Selling Heroin to Overdose Victim

A St. Peters man pleaded guilty Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter after selling heroin to a man who overdosed and died July 31, 2012.

Thomas Richard Lucas Jr., 24 of the 300 block of Harper Court in St. Peters, is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 28 by St. Charles County Circuit Court Judge Daniel G. Pelikan.

Lucas also pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing a controlled substance.

St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force members said Jemil Ely, 23, overdosed after buying heroin from Lucas and his girlfriend, Whitney M. Patrick, 24. At the time, Lucas and Patrick were listed as living in the 200 block of Ameristar Boulevard in St. Charles.

Patrick has a jury trial scheduled for Dec. 4.

Detectives said Ely gave Lucas and Patrick $50 for five doses of heroin. Lucas then bought eight heroin doses in the city of St. Louis July 30.

Patrick, Lucas’ girlfriend, then gave the heroin to Ely, keeping three doses for herself.

Lucas and Patrick each told police they knew Ely had overdosed on two occasions and they were afraid he would overdose again if given all five doses at the same time. So, the couple gave him the doses on two separate occasions, they told police.

Lucas and Patrick each said they participated in the drug deal so Patrick could get free heroin, according to a court document. Both were present during one of Ely’s previous overdoses, police said.