CHARGES FILED IN HEROIN OD

BATAVIA - Bail was set at $100,000 Friday for a Clermont County man
charged with involuntary manslaughter in the heroin overdose of a
fellow Miami Township resident.

James "Jamie" Nicholas Thompson, 26, pleaded not guilty during a
hearing before Judge Robert P. Ringland of the Court of Common Pleas.
Thompson remains in the Clermont County jail in lieu of bail.

A resident of Pebble Ridge Drive, Thompson was indicted Wednesday by
the Clermont County grand jury in the death of Charles Ray Smith Jr.

Smith, 34, a resident of Brightwater Circle, was found dead June 18
in the passenger seat of a car at the Pebble Brook apartment complex.

Thompson allegedly provided a syringe that Smith used to inject
heroin, said Detective John Swing of the Miami Township Police Department.

An autopsy by the Clermont County coroner's office showed Smith had
heroin and other drugs in his body, Swing said. Three used syringes
were found near Smith's car, he said.

After the men injected heroin together, Thompson parked the car at
the Pebble Brook apartments and left Smith in the passenger seat,
where he was found dead, Swing said.

Smith's teenage son noticed police gathered around the car, which
belonged to a relative, and Swing informed the youth that his father was dead.

It was Father's Day. "It was terrible to have to tell a child that on
Father's Day," Swing said.

Smith had a criminal record that included driving under the influence
of alcohol or drugs and theft of under $500, according to court records.

He had battled addiction for many years and "had just gotten out of
prison the week before," Swing said. "His tolerance (for heroin)
wasn't as high as it used to be. They get out and try to use the same
amount as when they went in, and their bodies can't handle it."

Swing said Thompson told him the two men, who had met through a
mutual acquaintance, bought the heroin in Walnut Hills.

"That's the source down there," Swing said. "Most of them go downtown
(to Cincinnati) to get it and bring it back here."

Heroin "is making somewhat of a comeback," Swing said. "We're seeing
more overdoses now."

While unable to put a number on that, Swing said, "in my nine years
(as a township police officer), it's the most I've seen."

If found guilty, Thompson could be sentenced to one to five years in
prison, according to the Clermont County prosecutor's office.