Avon Man Facing Charges for Heroin Overdose Death of Rumson Resident

An Avon-by-the-Sea man will be prosecuted under the state’s Strict Liability law placing the responsibility on him for the heroin overdose death of a man at a Rumson drug rehabilitation transitional center, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Michael Renna, 25, of Sylvania Avenue in Avon, is charged with one count of first degree Strict Liability for Drug Induced Deaths and one count of third degree Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance.

Renna is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $210,000 bail, with no 10 percent option, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge John R. Tassini, J.S.C..

Renna is charged in connection with the October 2013 overdose death of 25-year-old Christopher L. Pesce, a resident of Oxford House, a drug rehabilitation transitional house located in Rumson.

Rumson police responded to Oxford House, at 61 South Ward Ave., on October 13, 2013, at approximately 8:15 p.m., where officers located the deceased victim.

Rumson police immediately launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Pesce’s death with toxicology results obtained during a postmortem examination concluding Pesce’s death was caused by Acute Heroin Toxicity. Rumson Police, in conjunction with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, continued the investigation and ultimately determined the victim obtained the fatal doses of heroin from Renna, an acquaintance, in Asbury Park on the night of October 12, 2013, leading to the charges filed against him.

If convicted of Strict Liability for Drug Induced Deaths, Renna faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in a New Jersey state prison, subject to the provisions of the “No Early Release Act” (NERA), requiring him to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for parole.

If convicted of Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance, he faces a maximum of five years in a state prison.

The case is being prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher J. Decker, of the Office’s Major Crimes Bureau, Asbury Park Satellite Office.

Anyone with information related to this investigation should contact Detective Christopher Isherwood of the Rumson Police Department at (732) 842-0500 or Detective Kevin Condon of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at (800) 533-7443.

Individuals wishing to provide information about this or other crimes may also call Monmouth County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-671-4400. Callers to Crime Stoppers remain anonymous and are eligible to receive a cash reward if the information given leads to the arrest and prosecution of a suspect or fugitive.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.