Three People Charged in Fatal Overdose of Sauk Rapids Teenager

FOLEY (WJON News) -- Three people have been charged in the fatal drug overdose of a Sauk Rapids teenager in early March.

Sauk Rapids Police were dispatched to the 300 block of 10th Avenue North on March 2nd for a report of an unresponsive person.

According to charges filed in Benton County District Court, officers discovered the 16-year-old boy lying on the floor outside a bathroom and not breathing. Officers tried life-saving efforts, but say the boy was cold to the touch and appeared to have been dead for some time.

A man at the scene, 47-year-old Anthony Costello, allegedly told police that he had been in a romantic relationship with the boy's mother and he and the boy had snorted cocaine prior to his death.

Court records allege the boy had made plans with his mother, 38-year-old Crystal Swenson, and 33-year-old Fox Bellanger, to buy cocaine from them.

Costello said when the boy returned to Costello's Sauk Rapids home at around 5:30 a.m., the two snorted cocaine together. Records show Costello found the boy at around 9:30 a.m. making gurgling noises while on the floor and was unresponsive. Costello said despite pouring water on him and trying to get him to stand up the victim wouldn't wake up so he dragged him down the stairs and left the boy there so he could go to bed.

A medical examiner determined the teen died of fentanyl toxicity and cocaine use.

Search warrants were used to access phone records among the group and authorities say they tied Swenson and Bellanger to the drug buy.

Swenson, Bellanger, and Costello are each charged with one count of 3rd-degree murder. Costello was booked into the Benton County Jail on Friday and arrest warrants have been issued for Swenson and Bellanger.

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Source: Three People Charged in Fatal Overdose of Sauk Rapids Teenager

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