Browns Mills Man Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter In Fatal Overdose

Sunday, March 2, 2025, 8:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

TOMS RIVER, NJ.- On Thursday, February 27, 2025, William Anderson, 60, of Browns Mills, New Jersey, appeared in Ocean County Superior Court and pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch to one count of Manslaughter in connection with the 2019 fatal overdose of a 29-year-old man. 

     According to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, in return for the guilty plea, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office will recommend that Anderson be sentenced to seven years in New Jersey State Prison. Following entering his guilty plea, Judge Fritch accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for May 2, 2025.

Detectives Link Anderson To Drugs Supplied

     The guilty plea stems from an investigation that began on February 28, 2019, when members of the Toms River Police Department responded to a 911 Emergency Call reporting an unresponsive man at the Pelican Inn in the Township. Upon arrival, Police Officers found a 29-year-old man suffering from an apparent narcotics overdose. Responding Police Officers immediately administered life-saving measures. Emergency Medical Services arrived on the scene and were able to reestablish a pulse.

     The man was immediately transported to Community Medical Center for treatment, where on March 2, 2019, he succumbed to a fatal overdose and was pronounced deceased.

     During the ensuing investigation, Detectives of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force and the Toms River Township Police Department uncovered that Anderson had supplied heroin and cocaine to another individual the day before, on February 27, 2019, who ultimately provided the drugs to the 29-year-old victim.

Toxicology Results Reveal Cocaine Was Laced With Fentanyl

     Toxicology results received by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that the victim had the presence of cocaine and fentanyl in his system. It was determined through the laboratory results that the drugs supplied to the victim and distributed by Anderson were, in fact, fentanyl-laced cocaine, ultimately causing his death. Based on the laboratory results and the determination of the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, Anderson was formally charged on August 20, 2021, with Strict Liability for a Drug-Induced Death.

     On August 24, 2021, Anderson was taken into custody by Detectives from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Pemberton Township Police Department and transported to the Ocean County Jail. There, he was processed on the charge. Following his initial court appearance in Ocean County Superior Court, Anderson was released on bail monitoring conditions.