An Australian man has been charged with two counts of murder as he is suspected of not calling for help after two people suffered drug overdoses.
Steven Mataka Henry, age 41, is accused of reckless indifference that led to death, supplying harmful drugs, and possessing dangerous drugs. The charges come after Stephen John Peters, age 61, and Jasmine Lee Sloane, age 35, were found unresponsive in a suburban home on Thursday August 29.
The two victims were later declared dead, after emergency responders were called to their location in Mitchelton. According to Senior Sergeant Mick Jones of the Ferny Grove Criminal Investigation Branch, it is believed that Henry provided dangerous drugs to his friends hours before they died.
The drugs used are thought to be cocaine and methylamphetamine. The middle-aged suspect is accused of having first provided the substances the night before the victims’ deaths and then failed to call for emergency medical assistance when Peters and Sloane had “adverse reactions.” Authorities were contacted on Thursday morning by one of four children who were at the home. The kids’ mother was Sloane, who passed away.
Police have shared that the four children are now being cared for by their father, who lives at a separate location, and their grandmother.
According to Jones, Henry was present when the two deceased people were taking the drugs. The suspect was still at the house when authorities responded to the call, providing assistance with their inquiry. He reportedly “voluntarily accompanied” them to the police station for additional questioning.
The sergeant noted that Henry would not be in so much trouble if he had called triple-0—the emergency number—and said it “certainly would have helped” him avoid such severe charges. But, he added, authorities were called too late to ease up on the charges.
A car is also in police custody, as the suspect is said to have moved it—belonging to one of the victims—before he went back to the house. Jones said that he is still unsure “the exact way” in which the “situation transpired.” The autopsy report has also not yet been released.
However, authorities do believe that Henry also took drugs while with the two victims. But there is a chance he consumed different substances, since he did not have the same “adverse reaction” as his friends did. Jones noted that Henr “certainly indicated” that there was widespread drug use on the evening of August 28, but it remains “unclear” whether everyone took the “same drugs.”
Specific comments about the quality and quantity of the substances cannot be revealed until police have viewed toxicology reports.
Peters and Sloane suffered the consequences of the overdose “reasonably quickly” after taking the drugs. The three adults were not believed to have been in “intimate relationship” with each other. They were described as being “friends” or “loose associates.”
Henry’s first court date was on Friday August 30, when his charges were first read. He was not permitted to request bail due to the gravity of the charges against him.
