Warrant: St. Charles-area man questioned 'quality' of heroin before fatal overdose
A St. Charles Township man who died of an overdose April 4 questioned the “quality” of heroin before buying three bags of it from his dealer, according to a search warrant.
Jose A. Charles, 25, of the 600 block of Dixon Avenue in Elgin, is charged with drug-induced homicide in the death of Trevor Brubaker, 25, whose body was found in his house on the 6N100 block of Florence Lane in St. Charles Township. He died from an overdose of fentanyl-laced heroin.
According to an affidavit used to secure a search warrant, authorities investigating Brubaker's overdose death saw an entry labeled “My guy” on Brubaker's cellphone.
Authorities traced the number to Charles, and a Kane County sheriff's deputy scrolled through a text exchange between the Charles and Brubaker, according to the affidavit that was included in a recently unsealed Kane County search warrant.
“Trevor questioned the quality prior to injecting the substance into his veins because he didn't want to damage his veins. Jose confirmed the quality of the narcotic,” read part of the affidavit.
Authorities used the recent location searches on Brubaker's phone and other evidence to show Brubaker and a friend drove in the friend's white pickup truck to “Charles Fast Foods #4,” which was attached to a Shell Gas Station at 1525 E. Lake St., Hanover Park, according to the warrant.
Investigators viewed surveillance video from the gas station, which showed the pickup with Brubaker inside pull into the parking lot, according to the affidavit.
Deputies also had Jose Charles Sr., who owned the restaurant, show surveillance video from about 6:13 p.m. April 4 with the 25-year-old Charles getting into the pickup truck, driving off and then returning, according to the affidavit.
Authorities seized a computer hard drive from the gas station containing surveillance video, court records show.
Charles, who is held at the Kane County jail on $500,000 bail, appeared briefly in court Thursday and his case was continued to July 11.
He faces a punishment of six to 30 years in prison if convicted, and probation is not an option.
At the time of his arrest in May, Charles was on probation from a 2015 case in which he was guilty of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. He also was arrested in January 2019 on a charge he possessed heroin while at the Kane County jail, according to court records.