Warren man sentenced to a year in prison for role in ’22 overdose death of woman

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A Warren man who pleaded guilty to his role in the 2022 overdose death of a woman was sentenced today to a year in prison.

Judge Anthony Donofrio handed down the sentence in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to Anthony Harris, 40, who pleaded guilty last week to a charge of attempted reckless homicide, a fourth-degree felony.

The sentence is running concurrently with a three-year sentence Harris received in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court for a drug charge there.

Harris was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Mahoning County case, a first-degree felony, but the charge was amended in exchange for his plea.

A co-defendant, Alan Hunt III , was also charged with the woman’s death, but he died before his case could be heard.

They were charged with supplying the drugs that led to the Feb. 14, 2022, overdose death of a 32-year-old woman.

The victim was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center after she was found passed out at about 3:10 p.m. Feb. 12, 2022 on the floor of a home in the 1200 block of West County Line Road in Austintown.

A coroner’s report said the woman was revived in the hospital but died two days later. Her death was ruled accidental by the coroner’s office. The cause of death was listed as organ failure due to fentanyl toxicity.

The woman’s mother spoke and told the judge her daughter now has two sons who will grow up without her. The mother also said she lost another daughter to cancer and she had to make the decision to take her daughter off of life support after she overdosed.

Her daughter also planned to go back to college before she died, her mother said. She called her daughter “a beautiful, loving person” and after losing two daughters, she believes the grief has affected her physically.

“After so many times, grief does something to your body,” she told Judge Donofrio. “If you don’t have faith it will kill your spirit.

Harris’ attorney, Tom Zena, had filed a motion to dismiss the charges against his client, saying that prosecutors had no evidence he discussed drug deliveries with Hunt. He dropped his motion after his client agreed to plead guilty before it was ruled on.

Zena did not comment, other than to give his condolences to the victim’s family. Harris declined to speak before he was sentenced.

The sentence was agreed upon by the attorneys in the case and upheld by Judge Donofrio.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.