KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — A man wanted in Kaufman County for possession of a controlled substance and money laundering has been arrested and charged with murder in the heroin overdose death of a man in Florida.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — A man wanted in Kaufman County for possession of a controlled substance and money laundering has been arrested and charged with murder in the heroin overdose death of a man in Florida.
51-year-old James Jonathan Mitchell was indicted, under Florida law, for first-degree murder for distributing a controlled substance which resulted in the death of another man, the First Judicial Circuit of Florida’s State Attorney’s Office announced on July 22, 2015.
In January 2014, Donald Davis was found deceased at his residence due to acute heroin intoxication, an autopsy determined. An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigation revealed Mitchell provided the heroin to Davis which resulted in his death.
In a major heroin bust in 2014 and a subsequent press conference, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office identified Mitchell as their area’s primary heroin distributor. Mitchell was arrested at that time, posted bond, and failed to appear for court appearances, according to the Pensacola News Journal. He was later apprehended and booked into the Escambia County Jail in August 2014.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office described Mitchell’s initial arrest as the largest heroin bust the county had seen in a decade; seizing 80 grams of black tar heroin, several firearms including an assault rifle, a fully-automatic machine gun, cash, and other contraband.
Mitchell is wanted out of Kaufman County for possession of a controlled substance penalty group 1 greater than or equal to four grams and less than 200 grams and money laundering greater than or equal to $20,000 and less than $100,000. An indictment sheet identifies the controlled substance as heroin and alleges Mitchell was also in possession of a firearm at the time of his arrest.
Mitchell will first be prosecuted on the local charges, which include drug trafficking, larceny, theft and damage of property, and the latest murder indictment, before being called back to Kaufman County on a bench warrant, according to Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office Captain Fred Klingelberger.
