Man charged with dealing drugs causing man’s death at Indianapolis hotel in 2020
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Nashville, Indiana, man has been criminally charged with dealing drugs that led to the fatal overdose of a man found dead in a car at an Indianapolis hotel in 2020.
Hunter McSwain, 30, was formally charged Wednesday in Marion Superior Court 30 with dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death. He has paid a $100,000 surety bond and been released from jail, according to online records. A bond review hearing had been set for July 6 but was later canceled.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department were sent to a possible “death on arrival” about 8:20 a.m. July 26, 2020, to the Comfort Inn at 4125 Kildeer Drive. The hotel manager said a guest had reported a man “slumped over” and bleeding from the nose in a red 2014 Honda Accord, according to court records. Medics within minutes determined the man, later identified as Nathan May, was dead. Court documents nor a news release from the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office indicated the age or city of residence of May.
May’s cause of death was listed as “Acute Fentanyl Intoxication,” court documents say.
Members of the Indianapolis and Evansville district offices of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration met with May’s mother Feb. 17, 2022, who told authorities she’d discovered McSwain’s phone number in May’s cellphone.
“As alleged in the probable cause affidavit, in February 2022, members of the DEA Indianapolis District Office began to extract historical forensic data from the victim’s cell phone, McSwain’s cell phone, and the cell phone of a known witness. Examination of that data revealed McSwain communicated with others about his role in May’s death,” the prosecutor’s release said.
Magistrate Doris L. Pryor with the U.S Southern District Court of Indiana had authorized the DEA to get “historical cell site location information” for multiple cellphones, including May’s and McSwain’s.
McSwain is set to for a pretrial conference on Aug. 18, although courts commonly reschedule such hearings before they are actually held.
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“Fentanyl is ravaging our community. It is not only important that we provide resources and support to those affected by substance use issues but that we hold individuals accountable for dealing this deadly drug,” Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in the release.
Kendale Adams, deputy chief of IMPD’s criminal investigations division, said in the release, “The opioid crisis has resulted in the widespread distribution of fentanyl that has resulted in a tragic trail of anguish and despair from the unnecessary deaths of hundreds across Marion County and beyond. This case highlights two important lessons, with the first being that many street drugs are contaminated with an extremely powerful opioid that can often lead to death. The second is that narcotic dealers face consequences by federal, state and local judicial systems when the distribution of their products result in fatal overdose deaths.”
Gannon said, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s Indianapolis office, said in the release, “Drug traffickers who are knowingly dealing poisonous and lethal fentanyl must be held accountable for their actions, especially when someone tragically dies as a result. Today serves as a warning to all drug dealers that DEA remains committed to working hand in hand with our state, local and federal partners in order to keep our communities safe. DEA commends the outstanding work by the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana State Police, and the United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Indiana.”
