Man found guilty of selling heroin in fatal McHenry OD
A McHenry County jury deliberated about two hours today before finding a Chicago man guilty of drug-induced homicide for selling a fatal dose of heroin to a McHenry woman.
Carlton Maynor, 28, now faces between 15 and 30 years in prison on the conviction stemming from the March 3 death of Laura Johnson.
Johnson, 27, was found dead in a friend's Woodstock home after a night of using heroin that authorities said she purchased from Maynor the previous day.
About seven family members and friends who sat through much of the four-day trial said Johnson's use of heroin at the time of her death was a "mistake" and not a common practice for a person they described as generous, outgoing and loving.
"I just hope this opens up people's eyes to what happens with this (stuff)," friend Matthew Cott said.
According to witnesses, Johnson and three friends traveled to Chicago's West Side March 2 to buy heroin from Maynor, a regular drug source for one of those friends. After paying $100 for 12 packets containing a tenth of a gram each, witnesses said, Johnson snorted heroin during the car ride home and again later that evening.
During today's closing arguments, Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney Philip Hiscock pointed to a large dollar sign displayed before jurors and said that is all Maynor saw in Johnson.
"Laura Johnson was on a search for drugs that day," Hiscock said. "The search led her to the defendant. And the search led her to her death."
Maynor did not testify in his own defense, but his attorney questioned whether police arrested the right man, saying the witnesses who identified him as the drug dealer were habitual drug users who initially lied to police.
"Are these the sort of individuals you want to believe?" defense lawyer John Miraglia asked jurors.
He also tried a more technical argument, saying prosecutors presented no evidence that the amount of drugs purportedly sold by Maynor to Johnson topped the minimum 1 gram required for him to be guilty of drug-induced homicide.
Maynor will remain in custody at the McHenry County jail until his Feb. 4 sentencing.