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player ready...A Park City man pleaded not guilty Thursday to drug-induced homicide charges in the October death of a 47-year-old woman in the unincorporated Lake Villa area.
Earl L. Epps, 41, entered the plea before Lake County Circuit Judge James Booras, who scheduled a case management date of Jan. 17 and an initial trial date of Feb. 24 for Epps.
Epps, who was arrested and indicted by a grand jury last month, remains in custody of the Lake County jail with bail set at $1 million following the Oct. 4 death Tara Garcia, 47, of the 37000 block of Route 83 in unincorporated Lake Villa.
Epps was charged with drug-induced homicide, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and witness intimidation, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, which said in a release that the last charge was filed after Epps allegedly threatened violence towards a witness in the investigation.
Investigators with the sheriff’s Special Investigations Group said a family member who lived with Garcia found her in an unconscious state on Oct. 4 and called 911.
Garcia was transported by Lake Villa Fire Department to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
Deputies were dispatched to Garcia’s address around 6:45 p.m. that day for an opioid overdose call, and investigators learned that just before overdosing, the victim had allegedly purchased what she thought was heroin from Epps. According to the sheriff’s office, evidence at the scene showed she had purchased a substance containing both heroin and fentanyl.
Fentanyl can be 100 times stronger than heroin, according to Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper, whose office reported finding fentanyl in Garcia’s system. Garcia lost consciousness shortly after she took the substance, according to the sheriff’s office.
“We again see the tragic effects of the opioid crisis we’re fighting here in Lake County and at a national level,” Sheriff John Idleburg said in the statement on the arrest. “There is no doubt addiction is a disease, and we continue to do everything we can for those suffering addictions, while holding drug pushers accountable.”
According to Lake County Circuit Court Clerk records, Epps was convicted and sentenced to prison time after being arrested in 2016 for the manufacture and sale of heroin.