April 14, 2015

Heroin Distributor Allegedly Connected to the Overdose Death of a Dallas Teenager is Arrested in Orange County, California Following High-Speed Chase

DALLAS—A 36-year-old Dallas man, who is charged in a federal criminal complaint that was unsealed today with a felony drug offense stemming from his role in the March 2014 heroin overdose death of a Dallas teenage girl, Rian Lashley, is in federal custody following a high speed chase through Orange County, California, yesterday. The announcement was made today by John Parker, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Jimison Coleman, a/k/a “Jaymo,” was arrested by officers with the Buena Park Police Department on the federal complaint filed in the Northern District of Texas on March 4, 2015. The complaint charges Coleman with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin. It is expected that the U.S. Marshals Service will transport Coleman to the District within the next few weeks to face the charge.

In a related case, Cierra Allyn Rounds, 27, of Dallas, pleaded guilty on March 24, 2014, to the same offense stemming from her role in Ms. Ashley’s overdose death. She remains in custody pending sentencing set for September 8, 2015.

Rounds, and her two co-defendants, Glen William Brunton, 28, and Kathryn Grace Dirks, 25, were each charged in a three-count indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Dallas in September 2014, with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance (heroin); one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, the use of said substance resulting in the death and serious bodily injury of Rian Lashley; and one count of distribution of a controlled substance (heroin), the use of said substance resulting in the death and serious bodily injury of Rian Lashley.

Brunton has filed plea papers indicating his intention to plead guilty. That plea is set for May 5, 2015, before U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay. Dirks remains a fugitive.

According to plea documents filed in Rounds’ case and the criminal complaint charging Coleman, during the early morning hours of March 25, 2014, Rounds and Brunton traveled from a residence in Dallas to an IHOP restaurant in Plano, Texas. After arriving at the restaurant, Rounds and Brunton joined Dirks, Coleman (a local heroin distributor who was involved with Dirks) and Lashley at a booth, and the group ate breakfast together. While sitting in the booth, Rounds and the others became aware that Lashley possessed a large sum of money, approximately $3,000, a cell phone and an iPad.

Rounds admitted that later that morning, in the IHOP parking lot, Coleman delivered five baggies of “China White” heroin to Brunton and that Brunton subsequently distributed the heroin to Lashley in exchange for $100 cash. Rounds and the others learned through conversations with Lashley that she had never used heroin prior to that day. After acquiring the heroin, Rounds, Dirks and Lashley left the IHOP in Lashley’s vehicle, and they traveled to a residence in Dallas where Rounds was living. Coleman and Brunton departed the IHOP in a separate vehicle.

While traveling to the Dallas residence, Rounds used Lashley’s cell phone to send a series of text messages to Coleman, including their proximity to the residence and a text message advising Coleman that “…I figured ud want me on this money.” Rounds admitted that when she sent this message to Coleman she was notifying him that she understood that she was to attempt to steal the money Lashley possessed and turn it over to him. As Rounds and the others arrived at the Dallas residence, Rounds sent another text message to Coleman asking if she should take Lashley and Dirks inside. Coleman responded with a text message that read, “Don’t leave don’t let them leave.” Rounds understood the message to mean to take Lashley into the residence and to keep her there.

Once inside the residence, Rounds and Dirks, aided and abetted by each other, and at Lashley’s request, took possession of the heroin that was originally supplied by Coleman and used a syringe to inject heroin into Lashley three times. Shortly before those heroin injections were administered, Rounds sent a text message to Coleman stating “…ima bout to shoot her up for her first time.” Rounds admitted that she hoped the heroin injection would incapacitate Lashley in such a way to allow Rounds to steal the money that Lashley possessed.

According to the affidavit in Coleman’s case, Dirks turned over a portion or all of Lashley’s money to Coleman later that evening at a hotel in Dallas.

Rounds admitted that later that afternoon, Lashley began showing signs of distress, and she and Dirks placed Lashley in a bathtub of ice water in an attempt to reverse the effects of the heroin. After Lashley was removed from the tub, Lashley was placed on a couch and appeared to go to sleep.

Lashley died later that evening as a direct result of the heroin that was administered to her. An autopsy performed at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences on March 26, 2014, concluded that Lashley died as a result of the toxic effects of heroin.

A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offense charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The U.S. Attorney’s office has 30 days to present the matter to a grand jury for indictment. The penalty for the charged offense is not more than 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.

The Dallas Police Department, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Buena Park Police Department are investigating. Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert and Assistant U.S. Attorney Phelesa Guy are prosecuting.