CT man faces manslaughter charge after friend fatally overdoses while on leave from sobriety program

An Ellington man has been charged with manslaughter after allegedly selling fentanyl to a friend who was found dead from a narcotics overdose, state police said.

Charles R. Lewis III, 24, sold $20 worth of fentanyl to his friend after organizing the sale over Snapchat. He delivered the fentanyl to the man’s home the night before he was found dead on Sept. 4, 2023, and warned him in Snapchat messages to be careful when he took the drug, according to Connecticut State Police Troop C in a warrant affidavit for Lewis’ arrest.

Lewis’ 24-year-old friend, whose name was not released in police records, was found dead from a narcotics overdose in his Ellington home on Sept. 4. He was visiting home for a long weekend while in an inpatient sober living program for opioid and fentanyl addiction, state police records show.

Using the Snapchat username “countchukula,” Lewis had warned the man before he delivered the drugs on Sept. 3 not to take too much. A series of messages and calls between the two via Snapchat were included in the warrant affidavit for Lewis’ arrest.

“Plz don’t do a bunch off rip,” Lewis wrote, according to the affidavit.

“No I won’t I’m not tryna OD gonna just do a lil amount before bed later and a little before I go tmr,” the victim reportedly responded, referring to his return to the sober program the next day.

Lewis and the victim reportedly kept in touch as Lewis made his way to Ellington to deliver the fentanyl, messaging each other and making calls via Snapchat, the warrant affidavit said. That night, Lewis reportedly messaged him to tell him he had delivered the powerful drugs, according to the warrant affidavit.

“Package dropped off,” he wrote at about 8 p.m.. “Be careful plz,” the warrant affidavit said.

Shortly after, the victim reportedly messaged Lewis that he was “uncomfortably high,” according to the warrant affidavit.

The next morning, a loved one the victim was staying with went into his bedroom because his alarm was going off. She reportedly found him dead on the floor, with evidence of drug use — wax folds and burnt narcotics — nearby, the affidavit said.

The man’s loved ones told police he had been “allowed to come home for a few days to get some of his belongings because he was doing so well at the program.” His flight back to the program was booked for Sept. 4, court records show.

According to the affidavit, the victim reportedly had left the house briefly earlier that day. He told his loved ones he was going to walk to Cumberland Farms in Ellington to get a vape and a coffee at Dunkin’. He sent a photo of his coffee, and his banking records and surveillance footage showed that he went to the convenience store and the Dunkin’, the affidavit showed.

During that trip, surveillance footage reviewed by police reportedly showed him waiting for someone and messaging someone on his phone, but he was not seen meeting with anyone, the affidavit said.

His loved ones told investigators that he came home, they had dinner together, and he went to bed about 11 p.m.

“When he arrived home he did not seem like he was on any drugs or alcohol,” his loved ones told police, according to the warrant affidavit.

Messages to Lewis reportedly showed that he had tried to organize a meet-up and eventually told him he had to head home, then that he was home. He reportedly asked Lewis to leave the drugs in his mailbox when Lewis got to Ellington, the warrant affidavit said.

Investigators reviewed records from a joint bank account the victim had access to and reportedly found that he used the money transfer app CashApp to send Lewis $21, an amount police said was “consistent with the cost/street value of one bundle of fentanyl,” according to the warrant affidavit. The victim then sent him another $5 for gas money, state police said in the affidavit.

From there, state police identified Lewis as a suspect who allegedly sold the victim “the fatal dose of fentanyl the night prior.”

Investigators went to Lewis’ Ellington home with a search warrant on Sept. 18 and found him asleep in his bedroom. There, they reportedly found empty wax paper folds with a “powdery substance” that was suspected to be fentanyl residue, according to police. They also reportedly found black wax folds that matched ones found in the victim’s bedroom, state police said in the warrant.

They seized Lewis’ phone and confirmed that his CashApp and Snapchat accounts reportedly matched the ones the victim had used and contacted, according to state police.

A warrant was issued for Lewis in December, court records show.

On Monday afternoon, officers from the East Hartford Police Department notified state police that Lewis was in their custody. A trooper went to the East Hartford police barracks and took Lewis into custody. He was arrested on the warrant and charged with second-degree manslaughter and sale of narcotics, according to state police.

Lewis was being held in Department of Correction custody in lieu of a $200,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court in Rockville on Feb. 16, court records show.