Bellwood man sentenced in heroin overdose of Addison woman

A 35-year-old Bellwood man is headed to prison after pleading guilty to selling a fatal dose of heroin to an Addison woman.

Kyle Kirkendall pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of drug-induced homicide and was sentenced by Judge Robert Miller to 10 years in prison.

Assistant State's Attorneys Steve Knight said Addison police officers responded to a 911 call at 3 p.m. June 18, 2015, to a home on the 600 block of Harvard Avenue and found Samantha Hundley, 25, unconscious and slumped on the floor of a washroom with her arm outstretched and a syringe and two plastic bags nearby.

She was rushed to the hospital and administered at least two doses of Narcan, but Knight said Hundley's organs began systematically shutting down and she died five days later.

Her cause of death was determined to be a heroin overdose.

Knight said authorities learned that earlier on June 18, 2015, Hundley met Kirkendall in Bellwood, where he supplied her with heroin. After meeting with Kirkendall, Hundley went to the residence on South Harvard and ingested the heroin.

Kirkendall was arrested June 24, 2015, after officials found 13 text messages on Hundley's phone that day, to and from Kirkendall, arranging her purchase of the drug.

Officers then set up several undercover purchases with Kirkendall. He has been held on $2 million bail since his arrest.

"According to the (Centers for Disease Control), from 2014 to 2015, heroin overdose death rates increased by more than 20 percent with nearly 13,000 people dying nationwide in 2015," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said after the sentencing. "Locally, we have a heroin epidemic that must be met head on. Today's sentence sends the message to anyone who would consider dealing this poison that you will be held responsible for the lives lost due to your actions,"

Kirkendall will be required to serve 75 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole. He receives credit for 544 days already served.