CLEARFIELD – The trial for a Munson man who is accused of providing drugs to a 14-year-old boy, who later died, has been cancelled.
Dennis William E. Demoss, 37, is charged with drug delivery resulting in death, endangering the welfare of children and criminal use of communication facility, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, corruption of minors and recklessly endangering another person in connection with the overdose death of the teen in Morris Township in August 2022.
Demoss was scheduled to go to trial starting Tuesday, but the defense filed a motion to cancel it because his attorney, Robert Freeman was diagnosed with COVID late last week.
During a hearing Monday, Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Lose-Morgan told President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman that the commonwealth is opposed to the cancellation because arrangements have already been made for several medical witnesses to travel and stay in the area. She noted that one of them was actually in the air, traveling from Texas, at the time of the hearing.
She pointed to the costs to reschedule all of these witnesses. One of them is being paid a $12,000 non-refundable fee, she said and asked the judge to allow them to go to trial on Tuesday.
Ammerman reminded them that the case was originally scheduled for early Sept. After a motion by the prosecution to allow video testimony was denied, the trial had to be cancelled because these witnesses weren’t available on the trial dates to travel to Clearfield County.
“This is a very serious case,” he stated. “The family must be sick about this.”
He expressed his frustration with the DA’s office management of the case, explaining that District Attorney Ryan Sayers was handling the case, but then First Assistant F. Cortez “Chip” Bell picked the jury in July for the early Sept. trial dates.
The motion for video testimony was filed on Aug. 22, according to online court records.
“If you had prepared properly for this with the first trial, (having witnesses available), this would not be a problem.
“I understand money has been spent, but I am not comfortable proceeding (with the trial),” Ammerman said.
Ammerman gave Lose-Morgan, Bell and Freeman a few minutes to discuss the specifics on the witnesses. When Ammerman re-entered the court room, Freeman confirmed he was now alright with video testimony from the medical witnesses and Demoss also agreed this was acceptable which should save the commonwealth some money.
Ammerman then granted the defense motion that the trial be cancelled and denied the commonwealth’s motion to proceed to trial.
The case against Demoss who remains in the county jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, will be scheduled for the next jury selection on Dec. 4.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were notified by personnel of the Children’s Hospital at Pittsburgh that the 14-year old male was not going to survive a drug overdose that occurred on July 28, 2022.
The victim reportedly tested positive for fentanyl, Nor fentanyl, and Xylazine, which is consistent with home manufactured heroin.
One witness said she was at the home where the boy was found in the basement. He was breathing “but making weird noises and had foam coming out of his mouth and nose,” she told authorities.
She reported that Demoss and the boy were co-workers. That day she had picked them up from work and taken them back to their residence. They ate dinner and then Demoss and the teen went downstairs together.
When Demoss was questioned, he said the boy was complaining of a headache so he gave him ibuprofen. The victim then went downstairs to take a nap. Demoss eventually went downstairs and went to sleep in the same bed. He claimed the boy was snoring and not making weird noises.
Later another person came downstairs and saw fluid coming from the victim’s nose. Demoss said he tried to wake him up and it was after this that 911 was called.
Demoss admitted to police that he is a recovering heroin addict and it had been a week since he used anything. As to what he was using, he said it was the “mixed” stuff that was going around.
Another witness reported that Demoss told him he let the boy use his pipe which contained only THC, and another said Demoss claimed he and the teen did a hit of a cannabis extract off a piece of foil.
Just weeks after the victim’s death, Demoss moved to Kentucky.
After Demoss was picked up on unrelated charges in April 2024, he was questioned about the overdose.
Demoss told the same story of the boy having a headache and providing him ibuprofen. Later he got into bed with the boy who was already asleep.
Demoss denied using any controlled substances and tried to say that while the two were asleep, someone else came downstairs and gave the boy the drugs.
After multiple stories, Demoss became angry asking the cops why it was any of their business and what did it matter. The officers then reminded him that the boy overdosed and died.
“Demoss just put his head down and shook his head,” the report states.
Another witness interviewed on May 7, 2024, said she was with the boy and Demoss in the basement. At that time, the victim was fine, but was complaining of a headache. She left and when she returned a few minutes later, the teen was asleep with his eyes “rolling in the back of his head” and he was snoring “weirdly”. Demoss assured her he was just sleeping.
She went to another nearby residence which is where she was an hour later when she saw the ambulance arrive.
Yet another person at the home at the time of the overdose told investigators that he saw Demoss with a piece of tin foil that had a “raw yellow substance” on it. At this point, the teen was asleep in the bed. This witness saw a foamy white and red substance coming from the teen’s mouth and said he was breathing weird. He woke up Demoss and told him something was wrong, but Demoss brushed it off.
On Demoss’s phone, police found messages between him and a dealer regarding the purchase of the type of drug the teen had taken.
The victim’s cause of death is listed as fentanyl toxicity.
