WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. — Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) deputies on Thursday, April 8th, arrested a homicide suspect and booked them into the Whatcom County Jail.
According to a press release from WCSO today, April 9th, on Tuesday evening, April 6th, about 9pm, aid units and WCSO deputies were called to the 100 block of Kelly Road due to a report of a possible overdose. A 28-year-old male was found unconscious and unresponsive in a work truck at the location. Medics worked to try and revive him but he was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Deputies began investigating the incident as a controlled substance homicide. Information linked the case to a recent spike in overdose deaths related to counterfeit pills made with Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. Deputies determined the victim was sold a fentanyl laced counterfeit Percocet pill by a co-worker earlier in the afternoon, which he ingested, causing him to overdose.
With the assistance of Skagit County Law Enforcement, deputies were able to locate the co-worker, identified by WCSO as 32-year-old Derik A Shooster of Hamilton. On Thursday, April 8th, Shooster was arrested without incident and booked into the Whatcom County Jail on the investigation of Controlled Substance Homicide.
Shooster remained in custody pending $75,000 bail as of 4:30pm, April 9th according to jail records.
Washington State court records indicate Shooster has appeared as a defendant in 25 cases in Skagit County District Court and other district and municipal courts since 2007 including 4 cases in 2021.
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