3 DEATHS RULED ACCIDENTAL

What happened?: A six-person jury - three men and three women -
agreed with coroner Mark Thomas' findings in the deaths of three people.

- - The death of Karen Ramos, 52, 414 W. Dayton St., was ruled
accidental due to multiple drugs in her system. She died on May 22 in her home.

- - The death of Jerry Nelson, 25, Aledo, was ruled accidental due to
severe head and chest injuries suffered in a one-car traffic accident
on 2700 North Road, west of Rio. He was pronounced dead at 10:13 p.m. Feb. 13.

- - The death of Paul Villarreal, 18, 2240 Daniel Drive, was ruled
accidental due to a lethal mix of cocaine, fentanyl, Diazepam and
ethanol. He died at 8:20 a.m. April 22 in Apt. 1407 of the Mary Allen
West Towers.

What is Fentanyl?: It belongs to the group of drugs called narcotic
analgesics, used to relieve pain. The transdermal system - better
known as a skin patch - is the form of fentanyl is used to treat
chronic pain. It is available through prescription only.

Crucial ingredient: Fentanyl proved to be the fatal drug Villarreal
ingested. Thomas said the toxicology report showed the amount of the
drug in Villarreal's system made it clear he did not use a patch.
Thomas and the police think Villarreal scrapped the patch and ate the Fentanyl.

What Thomas said: "Paul Villarreal essentially went to sleep and
didn't wake up. His system couldn't metabolize the amount of drugs in
his system and that system shut down. Fentanyl proved to be the fatal
link in that process."

What Joe Luna said: Luna, a Galesburg Police officer, testified at
Villarreal's inquest.

After the inquest, he said: "We feel like there are a few cases of
people who are obtaining the drug and ingesting it. There have been
two or three cases I know of where people have gone to the hospital
because of overdoses. It is something we are watching for, because
you have to have a prescription to obtain it and that means people
are selling it or passing it around after they get it."