Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Chief of Investigations Stephen F. Wilson, Jr. and Rockaway Borough Police Chief Conrad Pepperman announce the filing of an additional charge related to a fatal drug overdose occurring on November 23, 2018.
According to authorities, on November 23, 2018, law enforcement responded to a report of a female who was unconscious and not breathing. The female, who was pronounced as deceased at the scene, was identified as Sasha Truesdale. The investigation would reveal that Truesdale was the victim of a fatal drug overdose.
Through a subsequent investigation, it is alleged that Natalia E. Zyga, 30, with a last known address in Rockaway Township, distributed heroin and fentanyl to Truesdale in Rockaway Borough on November 23, 2018. It is further alleged that the ingestion of the heroin and fentanyl distributed by Zyga to Truesdale resulted in Truesdale’s death.
Police charged Zyga with Strict Liability for Drug-Induced Death. This statute provides that any person who manufactures, distributes or dispenses any of a number of controlled dangerous substances is strictly liable for a death that results from the injection, inhalation, or ingestion of that substance. This is a first-degree crime, which is punishable by up to twenty (20) years in New Jersey State Prison and is subject to the eighty-five (85) percent parole ineligibility requirements of the No Early Release Act.
Officials say Zyga was previously charged on December 3, 2018 with other drug-related offenses stemming from this investigation. In accordance with the Criminal Justice Reform Act, Zyga was lodged in the Morris County Correctional Facility pending future court proceedings.
If anyone has any information related to this investigation, they are encouraged to call the Major Crimes Unit of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office at 973-285-6200.
A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. Despite these accusations, the Defendant is presumed innocent unless and until she has each been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.