SALEM, Ind. (WDRB) -- A Salem man is facing a felony charge after police say he sold heroin laced with fentanyl that led to the death of a 22-year-old man.
Police say Jacob Dodson, who was reported missing on Oct. 25, 2018, died after injecting heroin he bought from Justin Shelton.
Dodson's body was found stuffed in a large duffel bag and hidden under a trailer on West Wheeler Holler Road in Washington County on Oct. 26.
Shelton was arrested on Jan. 18 after investigators interviewed Jerry Carson, who said he drove Dodson to buy the heroin on Oct. 21 and was with him when he died.
Police say Carson also admitted that he hid Dodson's body under the trailer after he overdosed.
Carson faces charges of obstruction of justice and failure to report a dead body.
Investigators secured a warrant for Dodson and Carson's Facebook accounts, as well as the Google account linked to Dodson's Gmail address.
Court documents indicate that Facebook records obtained for Dodson's account contained a conversation between Dodson and Shelton on Oct. 21, with Dodson asking if he could purchase some "slow." Police say "slow" is a street term for heroin.
Investigators then used Dodson's Google account to track his phone's location, which led them to Shelton's house.
When Shelton was questioned on Jan. 18, police say he admitted he knew Dodson but said he didn't talk to him on Oct. 21, 2018. That's when police showed Shelton a copy of the Facebook conversation and asked what he was referring to in a message to Dodson that stated "I can get slow that's it."
Police say Shelton then admitted that "slow" was heroin. He also said he sold Dodson $20 worth of heroin, knowing that Dodson would probably inject it. Police asked Shelton if he knew of anyone else who overdosed after buying heron from him. Shelton said he knew one other person had overdosed but survived.
Police say Shelton also admitted to selling heroin to "more people than he knew" and that people were constantly "in and out of his house buying heroin."
Shelton's father, Tony, who's battled drug addiction his entire life, hopes the case will cause his son to see the light.
"He has a lot of regrets over [Dodson's death]. The guilt was eating him up," he said of his son, who he visited at the Washington County Jail on Wednesday. "I just told him that you can make something positive out of this. You know, you're still alive. You can still do good."
Justin Shelton is charged with one felony count of dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death.
Indiana State Police Sgt. Carey Huls hopes the case sends a strong message to other drug dealers.
"Throughout the community in Kentuckiana, there's many small hand-to-hand deals that happen on a daily basis, and many times, they're not considering the consequences," he said. "It's one of the worst epidemics and scourges in our community."
Washington County Prosecutor Dustin Houchin, whose office is prosecuting the case, said he'll keep going after dealers when there's sufficient evidence to do so and considers it one way of battling the drug epidemic.
During a court appearance on Jan. 23, Shelton's bond was set at $40,000 cash. His next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 14.
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