Crime & Safety

Heroin Death Charges Held Against Hatboro Woman

Carly Paige Stevenson is accused of supplying her boyfriend heroin that led to his death.

Did the three packets of heroin Carly Paige Stevenson admitted giving to her boyfriend kill him?

That was the question argued during a preliminary hearing Thursday afternoon for Stevenson, 27, of Hatboro, who was charged last month in the death of her 19-year-old boyfriend, Brandon Cron.

Stevenson is facing first-degree felony charges of drug delivery resulting in death and manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture, as well as misdemeanor charges of recklessly endangering another person, use/possession of drug paraphernalia and unsworn falsification to authorities, according to court documents. 

As Stevenson—who was clad in a maroon jumpsuit and flanked by family members—wept, her attorney, Brad Robbins, from the public defender's office, likened his client to a "mule" who serves as a "go-between" from drug supplier to user. 

"She's really not the kind of person that this statute is aiming for," Robbins said. "The one in the car who delivered the drugs is the one the statute is aimed at. The only thing they have is her own statement, a dead body and some needles."

Stevenson spent $30 to buy three packets of heroin on Sept. 28 from a dealer named "Breeze" near her North York Road apartment in Hatboro, according to court documents. She then gave the drugs to Cron, her boyfriend of a year and a half, according to authorities. 

Cron died sometime between when they went to bed that night and the time of her call to Hatboro Police at about 12:15 p.m. on Sept. 29. Police described his body as having "obvious signs of rigor mortis and lividity" when police arrived, according to the affidavit of probable cause. 

Under subsequent police questioning, Stevenson admitted that when she woke on the morning of Sept. 29, Cron was dead and she disposed of the needles and heroin packaging before calling police because she "did not want any evidence in the house," according to court documents. 

In court, Robbins argued the evidence does not prove the drugs that Stevenson bought and gave to Cron were responsible for his death. 

"Part of the element of the crime is that the drug delivery has to result in death," he said. 

Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kelly S. Lloyd pointed to the coroner's report and the determination that Cron died of an "adverse reaction to heroin" as the cause of death. 

But Robbins, in questioning Hatboro Police Detective Sgt. Cameron Goold, argued that police do not know if Cron had other heroin in his possession that he used in conjunction with the supply Stevenson purchased. 

"You don't really know what heroin it was that killed the decedent," Robbins said. 

Goold said police, upon searching the apartment, found unused syringes, as well as marijuana paraphernalia that allegedly belonged to Stevenson, but no additional heroin.

Cron's mother and his uncle, Augustine Bocelli, were in attendance Thursday. His mother sobbed at Robbins' repeated references of her son as a "dead body."

At one point, Hatboro District Judge Paul Leo cut Robbins off and pointed out that Cron's family members were present. 

"Nobody wins on this one," Leo said. "This is devastating."

Following the hearing, Bocelli told Patch that he views Stevenson as having a "part in the death."

"No. That's all she had to say and do. She didn't," Bocelli said, adding that he's forgiven her. "I'd like to see her admit to her actions. You have to be accountable."

Bocelli, who was a father figure of sorts to Cron following the death of the Quakertown teen's father, said Cron and Stevenson had a "tumultuous" relationship and Cron was on the verge of breaking up with her.

"He was starting to see he couldn't go through living that life," Bocelli said, adding that Cron had completed rehab a few months before his death.

Stevenson, whose bail was reduced from $100,000 to $99,000 cash bail to allow her the ability to move around the prison, was afforded an opportunity that Cron will never have again, Bocelli said. 

"My nephew doesn't get to walk around anymore and it's partly because of her," he said. "I want to see fair justice."

Stevenson is being held in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of bail. She awaits an arraignment in county court set for Feb. 26.

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