A 32-year-old Canton woman who went missing in December and was found dead in Columbus died from an accidental drug overdose, the Franklin County Coroner’s Office said Friday.
An autopsy report identified the cause of Chara Medlock’s death as being due to “combined acute fentanyl, morphine and xylazine intoxication,” which was confirmed by a toxicology report completed Feb. 7. The autopsy report said it’s unknown when the overdose occurred.
Xylazine is a veterinary tranquilizer that is often mixed with fentanyl.
The autopsy report did not indicate any signs of trauma or injury on the body. The coroner’s office identified her through her fingerprints.
Chara Medlock
Related: Family wants thorough investigation in death of missing Canton woman in Columbus
Family: ‘It just doesn’t seem right to us’
The release of the autopsy report comes more than two months after a U.S. Marshals Service task force executed an arrest warrant on Jan. 16 in Columbus on Medlock’s ex-boyfriend Darrell Carter. The officers found her decomposing body in the basement of the home where he was staying. Carter was arrested and now faces a felony charge of abuse of a corpse.
Related: Canton fugitive arrested in Columbus home now facing felony abuse of a corpse charge
Medlock’s sister, Ta’Shanti Medlock, 29, of Canton said the Franklin County Coroner’s Office sent her and her family the autopsy report Friday morning. Despite the ruling, she said she and other family members believe Medlock died due to foul play. They believe someone forced her to take the drugs or she took the drugs not knowing it was fentanyl, morphine and xylazine.
“It just doesn’t seem right to us,” said Ta’Shanti Medlock, who added that the toxicology report raised questions and did not provide the closure the family was hoping for. “It just doesn’t seem that my sister would willingly take stuff like that.”
Ta’Shanti Medlock cited messages from Chara’s phone that they received after Dec. 6. She said Columbus police informed the family that Carter told investigators that Chara died Dec. 9. Ta’Shanti Medlock said while her sister occasionally used ecstasy, they did not know her to use fentanyl, and she would not have taken a drug she was unfamiliar with.
Keeping her memory alive
Ta’Shanti Medlock said the family did not have the funds to have an open-casket funeral for Chara Medlock. They had her cremated in Stark County, and the family held a memorial service for her on Feb. 8. They celebrated her 33rd birthday on March 10 with a family barbecue by singing her favorite songs and doing her favorite dances.
As for Carter, his trial on the felony charge of abuse of a corpse is scheduled for March 26 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus. The judge in the case has reduced bond from $500,085 to $6,000. But apparently a warrant from Stark County for probation violations for an aggravated assault conviction is keeping Carter detained at the Franklin County Jail, so he can’t post the bond and be released.
An email message seeking comment was sent to Carter’s attorney Ryan Ward.
Medlock’s family say they last saw her on Dec. 3. Medlock, the mother of a 14-year-old son, told her mom that she was going to stay with Carter, her ex-boyfriend in Massillon. Ta’Shanti Medlock believes the last message they got from Chara was on Dec. 6. And the family believes that someone after that used her phone to send messages after Dec. 9 to her family, apparently to cover up her death.
Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Chara Medlock, died from accidental drug overdose, Franklin coroner says
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