DuPage's second drug-induced homicide trial to begin
The trial of a South suburban woman accused of supplying a fatal dose of heroin to her friend in Wheaton is set to begin Thursday morning.
Jennifer Nere, 34, of Summit, is charged with one count of drug-induced homicide and one count of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.
Prosecutors say Nere sold heroin to her friend, 32-year-old Wheaton resident Augustina Taylor, during the late-night hours of June 26, 2013. The next morning, Taylor's young son found her dead of an apparent overdose on their bathroom floor.
Nere was taken into custody in DuPage County in September 2013 after being released from Cook County jail, where she had been held since Aug. 24, 2013, on unrelated charges.
The jury was selected Wednesday, and opening arguments are expected to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday in Courtroom 4010.
If convicted, Nere faces between six and 30 years in prison. She has been held in DuPage County jail since her arrest on $300,000 bond.
The case against Nere is only the second drug-induced homicide case to be heard in DuPage County since the state legislature approved drug-induced homicide laws in 2011.
In May, DuPage County Judge Blanche Hill Fawell sentenced 26-year-old Malcolm Brown, of Chicago, to 10 years in prison for selling heroin to a Carol Stream man who then shared it with his friend who overdosed and died. Brown has since appealed the sentence and Fawell has denied his request to reconsider the prison term.