GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A preliminary hearing for a 15-year-old charged with delivering a fatal dose of drugs will be held in front of a judge instead of a court commissioner, as is the usual practice in Brown County.
Maylia Julieanna Paige Sotelo is charged in adult court with first-degree reckless homicide.
In court Friday, attorney Trisha Fritz said their preference is for the preliminary hearing to be held by the judge. A court commissioner agreed.
A status conference before Judge Beau Liegeois will be held Wednesday.
In Wisconsin, those ages 10 and older charged with certain homicide counts are prosecuted in adult court. At a later stage of the case, the defense can ask for the case to be moved to juvenile court, but such requests are not automatically granted.
In a criminal complaint, prosecutors allege that on the morning of Dec. 3, the grandmother of the victim, identified only as J.D.M., called police when her grandson would not open the door.
First responders arrived at the home in De Pere. They knocked on the door of J.D.M.’s bedroom but did not hear a response. A paramedic forced the door open and noticed the 18-year-old was beyond help. Officers say the death seemed suspicious due to drug paraphernalia nearby. An autopsy confirmed that he had died from a fentanyl overdose.
The victim’s grandparents told first responders he had a history with drugs, and had been to a rehab center in Minnesota earlier in the year, after he moved to Arizona for a short time before returning back to Wisconsin and living with his grandparents.
The victim’s mother met with a De Pere police officer to provide more evidence. She showed police conversations found on her son’s phone that they were able to trace to Sotelo, who sold him what she called a “bad batch” of Percocet.
Law enforcement then set up a “controlled buy” with Sotelo and arrested her.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Sotelo was found to be in possession of 775 fentanyl pills, 60% of which were lethal doses.
Sotelo told law enforcement she started smoking marijuana and then became addicted to Percocet. She said she did not want to sell but had to pay off a $500 debt to a person who gave her Percocet pills to sell.
In Wisconsin, those ages 10 and older charged with certain homicide counts are prosecuted in adult court. At a later stage of the case, the defense can ask for the case to be moved to juvenile court, but such requests are not automatically granted.
