Man charged in connection to pregnant woman's overdose death
Nov 13, 2024
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Kansas City, Missouri man has been charged with manslaughter after investigators said he assisted in a pregnant woman's overdose death back in August.
According to court records, 32-year-old Joseph Dicapo-Soltero is facing one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of delivering a controlled substance, except 35 grams or less of marijuana or synthetic cannabinoid, after he provided a pregnant woman with a toxic and lethal amount of fentanyl and cocaine on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024.
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Reports indicate that just before 3:40 a.m. on the night of the overdose, the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department was dispatched on reports of a "KCFD incident."
Upon arrival, officers were told by KCFD that a witness had called Westport Security after they found a woman lying in a yard.
The woman was pronounced dead shortly after at about 3:50 a.m., court records said.
According to the Jackson County Medical Examiner, the woman was 24 to 26 weeks pregnant, and her official cause of death was "fentanyl and cocaine toxicity."
Detectives launched an investigation into the incident and looked at surveillance video footage from the surrounding area. The footage showed that just after 11:15 p.m. on Aug. 15, a man, later identified as Dicapo-Soltero, had met with the woman and gave her a powder-like substance on his phone.
Court records said she snorted it through a cylindrical object several times.
The video also captured a conversation between Dicapo-Soltero and the woman, according to the probable cause. They allegedly talked about "fent" -- a street term commonly used to describe the drug Fentanyl -- and that he had built up a tolerance for the drug.
The footage eventually captured Dicapo-Soltero leaving the residence, however, a few minutes later, the woman could be seen falling face-first off a bench and onto the ground.
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According to court records, she stayed there until she was found almost three hours later.
Further investigations were conducted after Dicapo-Soltero was identified in the video. Court records said that he admitted to being the man in the footage and that he had provided the woman with Fentanyl.
The report also said that a swab test was done on Dicapo-Soltero's phone, which showed the presence of Cocaine and possible Hydrocodone. Court records indicated that it is common for Fentanyl to go undiscovered when other substances are present.
Dicapo-Soltero is being held in a Jackson County jail on a $50,000 bond. There is currently no hearing scheduled.