Court reverses ex-UMass student’s manslaughter conviction in drug overdose case
The court ruled that Jesse Carrillo was not guilty of involuntary manslaughter but upheld his conviction on heroin distribution.
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ highest court has overturned the manslaughter conviction of a former University of Massachusetts graduate student who provided heroin that led to the overdose death of another student in 2013.
Jesse Carrillo is arraigned in Hampshire County Superior Court on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of UMass Amherst student Eric Sinacori.
The state Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled Thursday that Jesse Carrillo was not guilty of involuntary manslaughter but upheld his conviction on heroin distribution.
The Derry, New Hampshire, resident in 2017 received a 2 ½-year sentence in the death of 20-year-old Eric Sinacori, of New Jersey.
But Chief Justice Ralph Gants said in the ruling that Carrillo’s actions were not enough to meet involuntary manslaughter’s legal standard of “wanton or reckless conduct.”
Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan called the ruling “disheartening” to families who have lost loved ones in the nationwide drug epidemic. Carrillo’s lawyer did not comment Thursday.
