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PEMBERTON, NJ – Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced that a Pemberton Township drug dealer was sentenced today to eight years in New Jersey state prison for causing the death of a customer by supplying the fentanyl-laced heroin that led to her fatal overdose early last year.
Terrance D. Walker, 38, of the Browns Mills section of the township, must serve 85 percent of the term before becoming eligible for parole. Under an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office, Walker pled guilty in August to Strict Liability for Drug-Induced Death (First Degree). The sentence was handed down in Superior Court in Mount Holly by the Hon. Philip E. Haines, J.S.C.
The investigation began in May 2019 after Tessa McCullough, 21, was taken to a Mount Holly hospital and pronounced dead following an overdose in her Pemberton Township home.
An autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood determined that her death was due to fentanyl toxicity. The investigation revealed the drugs that led to her fatal overdose were purchased from Walker.
“This successful prosecution and extensive prison sentence are the result of a prompt and effective investigation following the tragic fatal overdose of Ms. McCullough,” Prosecutor Coffina said. “We will continue to be relentless in tracking down and prosecuting the dealers of the drugs that are snuffing out so many young lives in our communities.”
Walker has been in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly since being taken into custody at a Maple Shade motel in October 2019 by the
Burlington County Sheriff’s Department Warrant Unit, the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Pemberton Township Police Department.