2 FACE HOMICIDE CHARGES IN DRUG DEATH OF BELLEVILLE MAN

Two men have been charged with homicide in last year's drug death of a
51-year-old Belleville man.

Antonio M. Hodges and James Profit, both 25-year-old Madison residents,
each face a count of first-degree reckless homicide in the death of Michael
"Ozzy" E. Osborn Sr., who was found dead by family members on April 29, 2004.

According to a criminal complaint, Osborn's son told police his father had
called someone named Ty - later identified as Hodges - to deliver cocaine
at their residence, but the pinkish-white powder delivered did not look
like cocaine. Osborn said he would try the drug anyway and went into a
bathroom to inject it.

He was later found in a deep sleep in the bathroom, and family members got
him in bed. When the time came for him to wake up to go to work the next
morning, he was found not breathing, was taken by ambulance to St. Marys
Hospital and pronounced dead.

An autopsy showed that Osborn had several drugs in his system, including
morphine (the form heroin takes when it is metabolized), diazepam, cocaine,
marijuana, benzoylecgonine, nordiazepam and trazodone. The cause of death
was listed as multiple drug toxicity.

Osborn's wife told officers she had observed track marks on Osborn's arms,
and for a couple of weeks prior to his death he had been going through
money faster than usual.

The drug that Hodges and Profit allegedly sold him was never identified in
the complaint.

In December, Profit told Dane County investigators that he had found the
powder he and Hodges delivered to the Osborns at an East Washington Avenue
gas station parking lot. He and Hodges didn't know what the powder was, but
they assumed it was drugs.

"It could have been drugs, it could have been drywall for all I know," he
reportedly told officers.

About two weeks later, Profit reportedly said, Hodges asked if he still had
the powder because "he had some white boys in Belleville who might want to
buy it."