Wheeling man charged in Mundelein drug death

After a monthslong investigation, Mundelein police charged a Wheeling man with dealing the drugs that led to the fatal overdose of Nathan Clyde, 19, from Mundelein.

James J. Murray, 21, was charged with two felony drug delivery charges, including one count of drug-induced homicide.

Clyde died on Aug. 17. Police found a small bag with white powder in his wallet that tested positive for fentanyl, and soon after the Lake County coroner ruled Clyde died of an accidental overdose.

Mundelein Police Chief Eric Guenther said the detectives who were investigating where the drugs came from were aided by the fed-up family of a different man who had overdosed that same day and they believed his drugs had been delivered by the same dealer. Guenther declined to identify the man who overdosed but said the man survived and was also from Lake County.

"Some relatives of his were tired of this and wanted to make sure the dealer stopped selling," Guenther said.

To build a case against Murray, detectives used the statements given by the relatives in addition to information they gained in other interviews. Police also got search warrants and grand jury subpoenas to access social media accounts and cellphone records.

"There was some social media evidence we were able to collect, and there were actual text messages between the victim and the dealer himself," Guenther said.

Police determined Murray sold Clyde one or two bags of suspected heroin just before Clyde died, authorities said.

Murray was arrested April 12 and had his bail set by a Lake County judge at $750,000.

Guenther said this is only the second time in five years that his department has charged someone with drug-induced homicide, and he added that it is a difficult crime to investigate.

"Although we ended up ultimately having a dealer off the street hopefully, we are in the midst of one of the most horrific epidemics we've ever seen," Guenther said.

"Anything we to do to combat this epidemic we should do."