4 charged in 2-year-old’s overdose death in Somerset County

SOMERSET COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Four Somerset residents are facing felony manslaughter charges after a two-year-old died in the Somerset UMPC emergency room.

Jeremy Chaney, 43, Rusty Koval, 35, Lauren Livengood, 34 and Linda Pape, 64, are all facing felony involuntary manslaughter charges after police were called to UPMC Somerset on April 17, 2022, for reports of a child in the emergency room who was unresponsive.

The child was then pronounced dead 15 minutes later in the emergency room. When police arrived at UPMC Somerset, they were told that the child was brought into the hospital by his father, Chaney, who was accompanied by Livengood, the child’s mother, and Pape, the child’s grandmother, according to the criminal complaint.

Hospital staff told police that a preliminary urine test indicated that the child had fentanyl in his system. Police interviewed Livengood at the hospital, who claimed that she had left her residence, located on the 300 block of Stoy Road, to “go for a drive” and when she returned she found the child laying on his bed, which was located in the living room.

Livengood then allegedly heard labored breathing come from the child, which led to him aspirating, according to the complaint. She told police that she then woke up Chaney and they drove their son to the hospital.

Police then interviewed Chaney, who told police that he, Livengood and the child were living with Koval for a couple of days which he claimed he regretted because Koval used to be a heroin addict and “knows you shouldn’t touch fentanyl,” according to the complaint.

Livengood was then interviewed a second time, where she told police that when she saw the child his eyes were pointing in different directions and he had labored breathing, which reminded her of someone who was overdosing, according to the complaint.

Livengood allegedly told police that she believed the child to have grabbed a water bottle that was contaminated with drugs and drank the contents inside, which then exposed him to them. She claimed that when they arrived at the hospital she told the staff to try naloxone on the child.

Police exercised a search warrant and the following items were found in the residence:

• Plain stamp bag in Koval’s bedroom
• Stamp bag labeled “Bugatti” in the garage
• Plain stamp bag from the second bathroom
• Partial stamp bag from the living room floor
• Red drinking straw from living room wooden cabinet top
• Stamp bag from Koval’s front right pocket
• Silicone container from Koval’s right pocket
• Partial stamp bag from shop vac reservoir
• Six stamp bags with red ink
• Glass smoking pipe
• Red plastic heart container with rubber bands
• Four stamp bag with the “Ferrari” logo
• Four empty glassine bags
• Two stamp bags with “Homer Simpson” on them

On April 28, 2022, police received the toxicology report on the child, which indicated that at the time of death he had Fentanyl, Methamphetamine, Cocaine and Xylazine in his system. The cause of death was listed as “Multiple Drug Intoxication.”

The individuals charged all resided in the same household as the child and were designated caregivers. Each individual is alleged to have violated their duty of care to the child by having knowledge of ongoing drug activity within the home, and the drug activity thereby caused the death of the child.

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All four are facing a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter and two felony charges each of endangering the welfare of children. Koval is facing additional charges of tampering with evidence, possession of a controlled substance and use/possession of drug paraphernalia.

Three of the four are in Somerset County Jail after being unable to post bail. Chaney’s bail was set at $75,000, Koval’s was set at $100,000, Pape’s was set at $50,000 and Livengood’s was set at $50,000.

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