Edmonton police lay first manslaughter charge in a fentanyl overdose death
As the death toll of Alberta's fentanyl epidemic continues to rise, Edmonton police have laid their first manslaughter charge in a deadly overdose of the street drug.
Jordan Yarmey, 25, was charged Monday in the death of Szymon Kalich, police said in a statement issued Wednesday.
Toxicology and autopsy results determined that Kalich, 33, died of a fentanyl overdose.
On Jan. 27th, officers were called to a residence near the corner of 33rd Street and 18th Avenue, in the south Edmonton neighbourhood of Laurel.
When they arrived, officers found a man's body in the hallway.
Yarmey's first court date is scheduled for Thursday.
Fentanyl, an opioid narcotic which is considered up to 100 times more potent than morphine, killed 153 Albertans in the first half of 2016.
In 2015, 274 Albertans died from fentanyl overdoses, a sharp increase from 120 deaths in 2014, and 66 deaths the year before.
