Background: The Allen County Jail in Fort Wayne, Indiana (Google Maps). Inset left: Keana Swafford (Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services – Mungovan). Inset right: Jeremy Duvall (Allen County Sheriff”s Office).
A man in northern Indiana is accused of causing the death of his girlfriend by giving her a fatal dose of fentanyl.
Jeremy Duvall, 45, has been charged with dealing a controlled substance resulting in death, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. While the charge was filed this week, the incident is said to have occurred over the summer.
It was June 27, and Duvall and his girlfriend, 29-year-old Keana Swafford, were at a home in Fort Wayne, Indiana. At one point, the defendant said he saw Swafford standing by a bed smoking fentanyl, but then he fell asleep. When he woke up, he found her face down on the floor, per court documents reviewed by local ABC and NBC affiliate WPTA.
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Duvall, who authorities believe was a drug dealer at the time, struggled with whether to call 911, but he ended up calling for help. However, when officers arrived at the home, he wasn’t there. First responders tended to Swafford, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Law enforcement officers obtained a warrant for the suspect’s phone, and on it, they found messages that they believed illustrated his state of mind about his girlfriend’s death.
“Trust me there hasn’t been a minute that past where I haven’t thought about what could have been done differently,” one message read, per the Fort Wayne-based outlet. “I would give my life for hers and she knows that God knows that and God and [Swafford] knows what happened that’s all that matters I don’t care what anyone has to say or feels about it.”
In another message, Duvall admitted to giving his girlfriend the fentanyl, according to the court documents.
Duvall was arrested a month later for felony narcotics possession, and on the way to the jail, he allegedly made an incriminating statement: “It is kinda like my fault.” He has reportedly remained in jail since.
Court records show that the defendant had an initial hearing for his dealing charge on Friday. He will appear in court again on Nov. 26.
Swafford, who had three children, is remembered for being “bright, bold, and fierce in her love for those around her,” according to her obituary, which also mentions Duvall.
