Lorain woman charged with felonies in fatal overdose

ELYRIA — A Lorain woman is facing three felony charges in connection with the overdose death of a Lorain man this summer. Marsha Watchorn, 34, was indicted by a Lorain County grand jury Wednesday on charges of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, corrupting another with drugs, a second-degree felony, and possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony. Bond information was not immediately available in court records, and as of Thursday the case had yet to be assigned to a judge in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. Watchorn is accused of causing the accidental overdose death of 26-year-old Nicholas Cruz of Lorain, according to the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. Prosecutor Dennis Will said Watchorn and Cruz were known to use drugs and were spending time visiting with friends and partying in the two days before Cruz' death on June 20. He said the night that Cruz died of an overdose, Cruz and Watchorn went to a friend's house in Lorain where two other men were present. Will said when the two other men left to go to the store, Cruz and Watchorn ingested drugs. The homeowner then got a call that Cruz and Watchorn had overdosed and were calling for help. A call to 911 brought first responders, who found Cruz dead and revived Watchorn with naloxone, Will said. Watchorn was transported to Mercy Health Lorain where she surrendered a packet of a substance that later tested positive for a mixture of fentanyl and 4-ANPP, a controlled substance used in the manufacture of fentanyl, according to the DEA. Watchorn's arrest record includes charges of felonious assault and violating a protection order, according to the Lorain County Sheriff's Office. The felony assault case from 2016 was amended to assault, a first-degree misdemeanor. Watchorn pleaded guilty to the lesser offense and was sentenced by Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Raymond Ewers to 90 days in jail and fined $350, with all of the jail term suspended on the condition of one year of good behavior, according to court records. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.