Lacey Man Sentenced In Providing Drugs In Fatal Overdose

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Lacey Township man has been sentenced to six years in prison in connection with the fatal overdose of a woman in Toms River in 2020, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Monday.

Jehmar M. Barrett, 36, of Lacey Township, was sentenced Friday by Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. Barrett had pleaded guilty to manslaughter before Rahill on June 19. His sentence is subject to the No Early Release Act, requiring him to serve 85 percent — just over five years — before he is eligible for parole.

Toms River police were called to a home on Alabama Avenue on Nov. 24, 2020, for a report of an unresponsive woman. The 35-year-old woman had died from an apparent drug overdose, authorities said.

Investigators learned Barrett had sold heroin and cocaine to the woman on Nov. 23, 2020, authorities said. A toxicology report found fentanyl in the woman's system, and lab analysis of the drugs sold to the victim by Barrett showed it was fentanyl instead of heroin, and the fentanyl matched the fentanyl in the victim's system.

Based on the toxicology analysis, the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the fentanyl found in the victim’s system caused her death, and on April 29, 2021, Barrett was charged in her death.

Barrett surrendered himself at Toms River police headquarters on April 30, 2021, and was released as a consequence of New Jersey Bail Reform.

He was being held in the Ocean County Jail Monday pending transfer to state prison.

Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Burke handled the case on behalf of the state. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, High Tech Crime Unit, and Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, Toms River Police Department, Berkeley Township Police Department, Lacey Township Police Department, Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit collaborated on the investigation.