Sandra Wade of Mechanicsville stands at the Charles County Courthouse holding photos and the ashes of her son Christopher Wade, who died from a drug overdose Oct. 31, 2015.

La Plata, MD – For Sandra Wade of Mechanicsville, the long wait is never over.

Her son, Christopher Wade, 35 of Mechanicsville, died last October in Waldorf of a heroin overdose, although the substance found in his system after his death was Fentanyl.

Now in an unprecedented case, the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office will charge a known dealer with manslaughter associated with an overdose. Samantha Nicole Thomas, 33 of Waldorf, was indicted by a Charles County Grand Jury Dec. 16 on manslaughter charges.

She also faces sentencing in January for attempting to smuggle heroin into the Charles County Detention Center. A co-defendant in that case, Jeremy Clark, was only given a six-month sentence last month by Charles County Circuit Court Judge Amy J. Bragunier.

“I knew my son had a problem with pills, but I had no idea he was using heroin,” Sandra Wade said of her son. She expressed regret and frustration that the co-defendant of her son’s dealer only got “a slap on the wrist” for attempting to smuggle heroin into the jail. “These are the people who are killing our children,” she said.

Her son’s death has also changed the way the Charles County Sheriff’s Department investigates overdose deaths.

When her son died Oct. 31, 2015, she explained, he was at someone else’s residence in Waldorf. “I had to go to this residence to gather his belongings and when I found his cell phone, I discovered all of these text messages between him and his dealer,” she explained. “I asked the officers why they didn’t look at it.”

Her discovery ended up becoming a key piece of evidence in the indictment against Thomas. The new procedure requires a detective to be sent to scenes where a drug overdose has occurred.

If convicted, Thomas will be the first narcotics dealer in Charles County to face manslaughter charges in relation to an overdose where they provided the drugs to the victim.

“I am grateful to the detectives for the work they have done on my son’s case and I’m praying the judicial system does the right thing,” Wade concluded.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com