GRAFTON 鈥 The roughly two-month-long investigation of the fatal overdose that occurred in the village of Grafton concluded last week with the arrest of a Milwaukee man.
Tavares Kimbrough, 46, was charged Wednesday in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with one count of first degree reckless homicide, three counts of manufacturing/ delivering cocaine and one count of delivering fentanyl. He was previously charged in SM天地论坛 and Milwaukee counties for distributing those drugs.
According to the criminal complaint, it was just after 3:15 p.m. May 22 when two officers responded to a residence on 4th Avenue in the village of Grafton for a report of a possibly deceased man.
Upon arrival, one officer observed the man (victim) in the driver seat of a vehicle and not breathing. The victim was still warm to the touch and showed no signs of lividity, according to the complaint. The victim, a 22year-old Grafton man, was pulled out of the vehicle for lifesaving measures, and despite regaining a heartbeat and having a pulse while being transported to a nearby hospital, he was later pronounced deceased, according to听the criminal complaint. The district attorney鈥檚 office has declined to name the deceased.
A detective conducted a more in-depth interview with a witness, who said that he and the victim shared the residence together, according to the complaint. The witness recalled that around 3 p.m. May 21, the victim placed a phone call to 鈥淭鈥 regarding picking up $100鈥檚 worth of cocaine. The witness said he and the victim then traveled to a restaurant parking lot in Milwaukee to meet 鈥淭.鈥
Once they arrived, 鈥淭鈥 鈥 later identified as Kimbrough 鈥 pulled up in his vehicle five minutes after, getting out of his own and into the backseat of the victim鈥檚. The complaint said they exchanged the money and cocaine, as Kimbrough also showed them a folded piece of yellow paper with a brown sponge-like substance that was revealed to be heroin.
After purchasing the cocaine, the victim and witness arrived back at their apartment at 4 p.m. or 5 p.m., and split and used all of the cocaine. The witness said he attended an AODA 鈥 Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse 鈥 meeting at around 7 p.m., and when he came back, he and the victim watched some videos before the witness decided to go to bed before 9 p.m., the complaint said.
The witness woke up the next morning around 5 a.m. before falling back asleep. At 8 a.m., he heard keys jingling, which he thought was the victim leaving for work. The witness fell back asleep again and woke up at 10 a.m.
The complaint said the witness then took the garbage out at noon and spotted the victim still in his vehicle. He tapped on his window, but did not get a response.
The witness, however, observed that the victim was still breathing at that time.
Assuming he was sleeping and not wanting to anger the victim, the witness ran some errands with his mother before returning home to find the victim still in his vehicle with his eyes rolled back into his head and his skin pale and stiff, according to the complaint. The witness called his mother to come back and help before dialing 911.
The complaint said officers discovered a camera mount on the inside of the victim鈥檚 vehicle with forward and rear facing lenses that showed the victim, between 5:36 a.m. and 10:12 a.m., with agonal breathing during this entire time frame.
A recording at 4:24 p.m. May 21 shows the witness and victim driving in Milwaukee on Capitol Drive, consistent with where the two bought the cocaine and shows them returning to Grafton at 4:59 p.m., according to the complaint. But another recording at 12:25 a.m. May 22 shows the victim alone in his vehicle in the same area around Capitol Drive and Teutonia Avenue.
About 40 minutes later, a recording shows the victim 鈥 still alone 鈥 driving through what appears to be Grafton. His demeanor was significantly changed from the prior recording and he appeared to be under the influence, according to the complaint. The complaint noted that he was also wearing the same sweatshirt in the video in which he was found unresponsive.
An assistant medical examiner at the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office determined that the victim鈥檚 cause of death was acute mixed drug (fentanyl and fluorofentanyl) toxicity. The witness revealed that he used to work with Kimbrough, who also goes by 鈥淛ay,鈥 and that he had his contact information in his phone. While working with him, the witness discovered that Kimbrough sells cocaine/crack and that he told the witness he had 鈥渁nything you need,鈥 according to the complaint. The witness confirmed that he had provided the victim鈥檚 number to Kimbrough.
Positively identifying Kimbrough and determining his phone number, several controlled buys, or undercover law enforcement working with a confidential informant to purchase illegal items from a criminal suspect, were conducted on June 4, June 24 and July 10.
According to the complaint, the first meeting was arranged for 2:25 p.m. near the intersection of 4th Avenue and Highland Drive in the village of Grafton to purchase $250鈥檚 worth of cocaine. An Ozaukee County Sheriff鈥檚 Office confidential information (CI) and an undercover officer (UC) met with Kimbrough. When Kimborugh arrived, the UC handed the CI the pre-recorded buy, as well as an audio recording device.
The informant then entered Kimbrough鈥檚 vehicle and returned to the UC鈥檚 vehicle with a clear tie off baggie that contained 1.2 grams of cocaine, also confirming it was Kimbrough, according to the complaint. The UC reviewed the audio recording and confirmed what the CI had stated during the debrief.
The second controlled buy later that month occurred at 2:40 p.m. at the same location. Again, the CI entered Kimbrough鈥檚 vehicle, this time with a woman in the front passenger seat. The CI, who did not recognize the woman, returned to the UC鈥檚 vehicle with 1.8 grams of cocaine, the complaint said.
The UC and CI then conducted their final controlled buy the following month at 12:50 p.m., also at the same location where the previous two were held, according to the complaint. Kimbrough, alone this time, did not arrive until just after 2:10 p.m. He handed the CI two corner cut baggies: one containing 1 gram of cocaine and the other determined to be 0.9 grams of fentanyl.
The UC subsequently received a phone call from Kimbrough, who told him that he should 鈥渉it him up鈥 if he wanted to party alone or with friends, according to the complaint.
On July 29, the CI and UC planned to meet Kimbrough at the same location to purchase more cocaine, but as Kimbrough was driving to the meet location, a traffic stop was conducted on the Interstate 43 northbound off-ramp to Highway 60. The complaint said that Kimbrough did not immediately pull over and proceeded to turn into a gas station. Both Kimbrough and a passenger exited the vehicle upon stopping. An officer instructed the passenger to return back to the vehicle.
At 1:56 p.m., Kimbrough was taken into custody.
Both of his phone and license plate numbers were the same numbers identified throughout the course of the investigation, according to the complaint. During an interview, Kimbrough confirmed that he did work with the witness and acknowledged that the witness introduced him to the victim. Kimbrough said that he understands the dangers of heroin/fentanyl and the risk of an overdose, also stating that he keeps Narcan in his own vehicle, which he noted no one else drives.
Kimbrough signed a $250,000 bond and will have his status hearing at 10 a.m. Aug. 19.
The overdose was one of seven this year, according to the Ozaukee County Medical Examiner's Office. Last year that number was 16 鈥 15 accidental overdoses and one intentional.
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