The second person charged in connection with the October 2023 overdose death of a Bettendorf woman has been sentenced to five years on supervised probation.
Lucas Matthew Seitz, 34, was sentenced Nov. 8 in connection with the overdose death of Kayla Slusser, 25.
Lucas Mathew Seitz
Slusser overdosed on the morning of Oct. 14, 2023, in a room at the City Center Motel in Bettendorf. She died three days later while in a hospital.
Seitz, along with his co-defendant in the case, Nicole Danielle Tucker, 34, each initially was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of possession with the intent to deliver meth, once count of possession with the intent to deliver fentanyl and one count of conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony.
Nicole Danielle Tucker
Tucker pleaded guilty to the charges of involuntary manslaughter and possession with the intent to deliver fentanyl. She was sentenced to 15 years in the Iowa Department of Corrections during a hearing May 30 in Scott County District Court. She is currently incarcerated at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women. She is scheduled to be paroled on Dec. 11, 2030, according to Iowa Department of Corrections online records.
Seitz pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and possession with the intent to deliver fentanyl during a hearing July 16 in district court.
During Seitz's sentencing hearing Nov. 8, District Judge Jeffrey McDaniel sentenced him to concurrent prison terms of five years on the involuntary manslaughter charge and 10 years on the fentanyl delivery charge. Concurrent means the sentences will run at the same time.
However, McDaniel suspended the prison sentences and placed Seitz on five years of supervised probation. Should Seitz violate his probation, his probation could be revoked and he could be sent to prison on the original sentence.
Seitz was released to the Residential Correctional Facility in Davenport to undergo a substance abuse evaluation. He is required to follow through with any recommended treatment.
Both Seitz and Tucker will be jointly and severally liable for $150,000 in victim restitution for Slusser's death.
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According to the arrest affidavits filed by Bettendorf Police Sgt. Joshua Paul, at 1:45 a.m. on Oct. 14, 2023, Bettendorf police were sent to 1138 State St., the City Center Motel, Room 17, for an unresponsive female.
The woman, Slusser, was taken to the hospital and placed on life support. She died three days later on Oct. 17.
Present at the time of the overdose were Seitz, a person living in a nearby motel room and Slusser's boyfriend.
During an interview with her boyfriend, police learned that Slusser used fentanyl and would rarely smoke methamphetamine.
The boyfriend told police that she was not in possession of any narcotics, and he contacted Seitz to obtain either heroin or fentanyl, according to the affidavits. The boyfriend arranged an Uber driver to take Seitz from the motel to meet with his supplier of opiates.
Seitz was interviewed several times during the investigation and stated that the boyfriend contacted him looking for heroin for his girlfriend, whom Seitz had never met. Seitz contacted his main supplier who put him in touch with Tucker, the affidavits state. Tucker agreed to sell Seitz opiates. Seitz obtained a ride to the City Center Motel where the boyfriend gave him $100 to use to purchase heroin or fentanyl and to pay an Uber driver.
Seitz purchased what he believed to be heroin or fentanyl from Tucker for $40, the affidavits state. When he returned to the motel, he gave the drugs to the boyfriend.
The boyfriend then gave the drugs to Slusser. The boyfriend told police the victim appeared to be under the influence of opiates based on her demeanor. He then observed Slusser turn blue and that she was not breathing.
The boyfriend attempted to save Slusser by giving her multiple doses of NARCAN and perform chest compressions, according to the affidavits.
Tucker was interviewed once during the investigation. Tucker told police that Seitz had contacted her looking to purchase opiates. Tucker was in possession of two "bad batches" of drugs, possibly "fake dope." Tucker stated she had purchased these for herself, and they did not have the desired effect, so she re-sold them to Seitz in exchange for $40 to recoup some of what she spent on the drugs.
She met with Seitz at about 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, 2023, in the area of West 31st Street and Western Avenue in Davenport, according to the affidavits.
Text messages and phone calls between Seitz, Tucker and the victim's boyfriend confirmed the transaction between Seitz and Tucker occurring at about 11 p.m. Oct. 13, the affidavits state. Seitz texted the boyfriend's phone: "We're good to go on our way back. See u in a bit brother."
The morning of the overdose, officers performed a consent search of the room of the person living in a nearby hotel room. Officers seized six-tenths of a gram of meth, .55 grams of foil with burnt liquid sludge of fentanyl, a hypodermic syringe with a liquid mixture of methamphetamine, fentanyl and n-pyrrolidino etonitazene.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice website, the latter drug, n-pyrrolidino etonitazene, is a high-potency synthetic opioid that has been linked to overdoses across the United States.
Officers also seized a spoon with burn marks, a cotton swab that contained the same mixture of drugs as the liquid mixture and drug pipes.
All of those items were removed from the victim's room after she overdosed and taken to the neighbor's room next door, the affidavits state.
The toxicology panel showed Slusser had in her system methamphetamine, amphetamine and phenylpropanolamine in her system. The initial toxicology screen did not test for fentanyl or heroin.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, phenylpropanolamine was at one time used in over-the-counter and prescription cough and cold medications as a decongestant and in over-the-counter weight loss products. It has been banned for use in the U.S. because of an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke.