Man faces homicide charge in Carol Stream heroin death
Charges against a suspected drug dealer accused of supplying the heroin that killed a Wheaton man have been upgraded to drug-induced homicide, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Malcolm Brown, 23, is accused in the death of 38-year-old Stephen Briston, who was found dead of an apparent overdose in the bathroom of a Carol Stream apartment early July 28.
Brown, of Chicago, initially was charged with delivery of a controlled substance. On Tuesday, a DuPage County grand jury indicted him on the upgraded charge.
Assistant State’s Attorney Audrey Anderson said Brown sold heroin to Briston and another man the night before Briston’s body was found. He returned to the scene with more drugs, she said, after a person who was not identified in court cooperated with police and summoned him back to the apartment.
When Brown arrived, Anderson said, police found him in possession of 38 packets of heroin marked with a black spade, matching other packets found in the apartment. Brown later told police he dealt heroin to buy food, clothes and other items, including a Mercedes-Benz, Anderson said at a bond hearing.
Judge Michael Wolfe kept Brown’s bail at $5 million, pending a hearing next week.
Brown has no prior criminal record, prosecutors said, and has been in the DuPage County jail since July. On Wednesday, he told the judge someone “set me up.”
Brown’s attorney, Nicholas Kirkeles, declined to comment.
Anderson said the other man who was with Briston when he died, identified in court records as 35-year-old Richard Brown, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance in connection with the death. She said Richard Brown is not related to Malcolm Brown.