Lena King
Leonardtown, MD — A Leonardtown woman has been sentenced to eight years in jail in connection with the death of her boyfriend after injecting him with a heroin overdose. Lena King, 21, was sentenced Thursday in St. Mary’s County Circuit Court by Judge David Densford. The judge suspended two years of a total 10-year sentence, the maximum under the state guidelines for the case. King had pled guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter on August 14 under a plea agreement with the state. She had also faced a charge of Second-Degree Murder.
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department released the following statement following King’s indictment: “On January 7, 2014, Lena King drove John Cleveland to MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital and reported she discovered him at the Leonardtown Wharf suffering from an apparent overdose. Detectives from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, Vice/Narcotics Division assumed the investigation and determined on January 6, 2014 Lena King and Mr. Cleveland obtained a quantity of prescription medication from an individual who resides in Leonardtown, MD.
“After receiving the prescription medication, Lena King prepared morphine tablets for injection and administered a quantity of the drug to Mr. Cleveland by injecting it into his body. Several hours later, Lena King, Mr. Cleveland and another subject drove to Annapolis, MD to purchase heroin. After purchasing heroin, the group returned to a residence in Leonardtown, MD at which time Lena King prepared and administered the heroin to Mr. Cleveland by injecting the drug into his body. Shortly after injecting the heroin, it became apparent John Cleveland was suffering from an overdose. Lena King fell asleep as a result of ingesting heroin and upon waking up discovered Mr. Cleveland was no longer breathing and attempted to perform CPR on him. After failing to revive Mr. Cleveland, Lena King, with assistance from others inside the residence, placed Mr. Cleveland in his vehicle so Lena King could drive him to the hospital.
“Upon arrival to the hospital, medical personnel assessed John Cleveland’s condition and determined he was deceased. Mr. Cleveland’s body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, MD at which time an autopsy was performed. As the result of the autopsy, a determination was made that Mr. Cleveland died as a result of a heroin overdose which was administered to him by another person.”
At the sentencing hearing, King’s attorney Kevin McDevitt painted a picture of a deeply troubled young woman with a long history of drug abuse given her young age. He said the abuse began at the age of eight and progressed from alcohol, Nyquill and marijuana, through a succession of escalating drug usage that included prescription drugs, PCP, cocaine and heroin. McDevitt said that King has only an 8th grade education and suffers from depress and bipolar disorder. “That’s a long list,” McDevitt observed.
McDevitt enumerated another list, that one of residential programs that King has been involved with since right after her arrest. “She has done every possible thing she can do to make herself a better person,” he said. McDevitt asked the judge to allow a local sentence so King could continue with a residential treatment program at Walden. Seated in the audience in support of King were counselors from several of the program she has attended.
Cleveland left behind two children. King has one child.
Cleveland’s mother and brother testified as to the impact of the loss of John and the impact on their family with the care of the children. Both denied that Cleveland was a heroin addict. They asked for the maximum penalty for King.
McDevitt said that King’s arrest, while being caused by the death of one person, saved her life. He thanked the court for allowing her residential treatment. “Essentially she has never been clean until you gave her a chance,” he said.
Before the sentence King turned to Cleveland’s family and tearfully said, “I am very sorry.”
In imposing the sentence Judge Densford noted that her latest drug arrest was not her first and that other attempts at intervention had failed. “This was almost inevitable,” the judge said in noting her long drug history.
Densford pointed out the considerations of sentencing, including protecting the public, deterrence and treatment. He said his sentence was to insure that the public isn’t threatened by a relapse. “She shouldn’t go anywhere until she gets inpatient care,” he said.
Judge Densford told King she could go to the Jessup prison for women and serve her time and get out on parole or she can go up there and get herself clean and come back to her child and community and do the things that McDevitt said she wanted to accomplish in life.
Upon her being taken away to serve her sentence she burst into tears, as did her mother and step father in the audience. Her parents said they loved her and she said she loved them.
When she is released she will be on five-years’ supervised probation