A woman being held in the Marion County Jail was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with first degree murder in the overdose death of an Ocala inmate.
Marion County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Det. John Lightle charged 24-year-old Jennifer Lane Patrick, of Summerfield, in the incident that took place on Sept. 7 at the jail.
Patrick is accused of sneaking a combination of heroin and Fentanyl into the jail by hiding the narcotics in a body orifice. She was strip-searched and body scanned for any signs of contraband and then placed in a cell with several other woman, including 22-year-old inmate Lorraine Gardner, a sheriff’s office report states.
Sheriff’s detectives say surveillance video of the cell shows Patrick hand a small object to Gardner, who put the substance to her face. She then began to show signs of physical distress and ultimately became unresponsive, the report says.
Jail staff and medics made multiple attempts to resuscitate Gardner, which were unsuccessful.
She was pronounced dead by the medical examiner and her cause of death was later ruled as a result of combined drug toxicity (heroin, Fentanyl and Valeryl Fentanyl).
Surveillance footage also showed a baggie of narcotics fall from Patrick’s pants while she was being transported for a second contraband check after Gardner’s death.
Upon reviewing the phone calls between Patrick and her boyfriend, Scott Joseph Derringer Jr., Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team (UDEST) drug agents uncovered multiple incriminating statements made by both in reference to the introduction of contraband in the jail and Gardner’s death, the report says.
Due to his involvement in this case, Derringer, 49, also of Summerfield, was arrested and charged with solicitation to possess Fentanyl. Patrick originally was charged in September with smuggling contraband into a detention facility and possession of heroin. A grand jury handed down the first degree murder charge on Monday and Patrick is being held with no bond in the case, the report says.