A St. Paul man is accused of unintentionally killing his mother after authorities say he gave her a dose of heroin to help her sleep after her surgery in the fall of 2018.
Police responded to an East Side residence in the 1200 block of Etna Street around 6 a.m. Oct. 31, 2018, after Franklin Martin Nelson called 911 to report an overdose, according to the criminal complaint filed this week in Ramsey County District Court.
Officers arrived to find medics working on Nelson’s 56-year-old mother, Sheri Ann Swits, and a syringe on the floor.
Two bottles of Narcan, medication used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, were nearby.
Nelson’s speech was slurred and he vomited while telling police that he had given his mother “a bump” of heroin around 5 a.m. that morning because she was having trouble sleeping after rotator-cuff surgery, according to the complaint charging Nelson with third-degree murder.
He reportedly said he used a syringe in the basement to shoot up after giving his mother the drugs and then fell asleep. When he woke up, he said, he heard Swits gurgling and called 911 before attempting CPR and giving her two shots of Narcan to try to reverse the overdose, according to the complaint.
Despite medics’ attempts to resuscitate her for about 30 minutes, Swits was pronounced dead.
When Nelson spoke with investigators again later that morning, he said he received the drugs from a man he and his mother had let stay with them. At one point he started weeping, telling an officer, “I know my mom didn’t overdose — I only gave her that amount,” while making a small hand gesture, the complaint said.
Nelson’s story changed when he talked to investigators later, according to the criminal charges. At that time, Nelson reportedly said both he and the other man had given his mother the drugs.
Police found the man Nelson referred to at the same residence as Nelson and interviewed him about the overdose.
The man said he paid Nelson and his mother $20 to stay at their place but that he didn’t use or sell heroin, nor was he there when any overdose took place.
An autopsy conducted by the Ramsey County medical examiner’s office revealed that Nelson’s mother died of acute heroin toxicity.
No attorney was listed for Nelson in court records. He has no prior criminal history.