5 charged in drug investigation into Matthew Perry’s ketamine death: Source
(LOS ANGELES) — Five people are now facing federal charges in connection with the ketamine death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry, ABC News has learned.
The arrests were made in an early morning operation Thursday, according to law enforcement sources.
Five people — including two doctors — have been charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine, according to a federal source. The indictment alleges that the two doctors were the initial sources of supply, but at one point federal officials believe the drugs became too expensive and Perry switched to a new source, including a woman known as the “Ketamine Queen of Los Angeles,” according to the federal source.
The charges will also include the death of another person who is referred to in the indictment by the initials C.M., according to the federal source.
The charges will be announced at a news briefing later on Thursday with the U.S. attorney for Los Angeles and the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, at the age of 54. He was discovered unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home, police said. An autopsy report revealed he died from the acute effects of ketamine.
Perry had high levels of ketamine in his blood, likely lapsed into unconsciousness and then went underwater, according to the autopsy report.
He was reported to have been receiving ketamine infusions for depression and anxiety, with the most recent therapy coming 1 1/2 weeks before his death, according to the autopsy report. However, the medical examiner wrote the ketamine in his system at death could not have been from that infusion therapy, as ketamine’s half-life is three to four hours or less.
His method of intake was listed in the report as unknown.
The autopsy report also listed drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects as contributing factors not related to the immediate cause of death. The manner of death was ruled an accident.
Prescription drugs and loose pills were found at his home, but nothing near where he was found dead, according to the autopsy report.
Multiple agencies have been investigating in the months since his death, including the DEA, Los Angeles Police Department, United States Postal Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Perry was known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom “Friends,” which ran from 1994 to 2004.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — A man has “intentionally” run over and killed a flock of 25 seagulls with his Jeep Cherokee before almost running over two people and their dogs, authorities said.
The incident occurred last Saturday around 8 p.m. when the unidentified suspect was driving his silver four-door Jeep Cherokee approximately 1.7 miles south of the Klipsan Beach approach outside of Long Beach in Pacific County in Washington, some 180 miles southwest of Seattle, according to a statement from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police.
“The same Jeep nearly struck two subjects walking their dogs on the beach,” officials said. “Multiple witnesses came forward including three that stopped the vehicle, photographing it and the driver.”
Most of the seagulls died immediately but efforts to save the few remaining injured birds failed.
“WDFW police have identified the driver thanks to these community members and officers are currently attempting to contact the man who is believed to be living out of State,” authorities said.
Seagulls are classified as protected in Washington and it is illegal for them to be hunted or fished.
Authorities are currently looking for witnesses and have asked the public to get in touch with them if you have any information regarding the person of interest or vehicle by contacting the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police at (877) 933-9847.
(NEW YORK) — The sheriff for Illinois’ Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, which employed the former deputy who shot and killed Sonya Massey in her home earlier this month after she called 911 to report a possible intruder, said during public comments Monday night that they had “failed” her.
“Sonya Massey – I speak her name and I’ll never forget it,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said during a “Community Healing & Listening Session” Monday night at Union Baptist Church in Springfield. “She called for help and we failed. That’s all she did: call for help.”
“I’m going to say something right now I’ve never said in my career before: we failed,” Campbell continued. “We did not do our jobs. We failed Sonya. We failed Sonya’s family and friends. We failed the community. I stand here today before you with arms wide open to ask for forgiveness.”
Sean Grayson, the now-former deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey in her Illinois home on July 6 while responding to her 911 call, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct in Massey’s death, and remains in custody.
Many attending Monday’s gathering applauded Campbell’s comments, but some expressed fear and outrage concerning law enforcement and community relations in the area.
“I live alone, and even though I already preferred not to call the police, I’m definitely not calling the police now,” Sierra Helmer, a Springfield resident, said Monday. “If I do need help, I should be able to call the police. Police officers are meant to protect and serve, but here in Springfield, apparently, and shown on camera, they harassed and unfortunately kill. Sonya’s tragic death has sparked an outrage in me as a single Black woman who was raised by a Black woman and having many other Black women raise me.”
Helmer’s comments also were met with applause and some cheers from community members.
“I asked Ms. Massey and her family for forgiveness,” Campbell said. “I offer up no excuses. What I do is offer our attempt to do better, to be better.”
“We will probably never know why he did what he did,” Campbell continued, referring to Grayson, “but I’m committed to providing the best service we can to all of you.”
Campbell also said Monday night that he will not resign his position.
“I cannot step down,” he said. “I will not abandon the sheriff’s office at its most critical moment. That will solve nothing. The incident will remain.”
Grayson, 30, and a second, unnamed deputy responded to Massey’s 911 call on July 6 reporting a possible intruder at her Springfield home.
Body camera footage released last week and reviewed by ABC News shows Massey, who was unarmed, telling the two responding deputies, “Please, don’t hurt me” once she answered their knocks on her door.
Grayson responded, “I don’t want to hurt you, you called us.”
Later in the video, while inside Massey’s home as she searches for her ID, Grayson points to a pot of boiling water on her stove and says, “We don’t need a fire while we’re in here.”
Massey then pours the water into the sink and tells the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson then shouts at Massey and threatens to shoot her, the video shows, and Massey apologizes and ducks down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt. She briefly rises, at which time Grayson shoots her three times in the face, the footage shows.
The footage is from the point of view of Grayson’s partner, because Grayson did not turn on his own body camera until after the shooting, according to court documents.
A review by Illinois State Police found Grayson was not justified in his use of deadly force. He was fired from his position with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office on July 17, the same day the charges were filed against him.
Massey family attorney Ben Crump has said the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the shooting. However, Chicago ABC station WLS-TV reported last week that the Justice Department told them in a statement that it “is aware of and assessing the circumstances surrounding the tragic officer-involved death of Ms. Sonya Massey and extends condolences to her family and loved ones.”
Grayson himself has a history of problematic behavior. Prior to his time in public law enforcement, he was discharged from the U.S. Army for unspecified “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.
ABC News also learned that Grayson was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents.
James Wilburn, Massey’s father, criticized Sheriff Campbell for his role in Grayson’s employment and called for Campbell to resign at a press conference last week.
“The sheriff here is an embarrassment,” Wilburn said. “[Grayson] should have never had a badge. And he should have never had a gun. He should have never been given the opportunity to kill my child.”
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Monday ordered the Justice Department to return the spear and horned-helmet sported by Jacob Chansley, the self-described “QAnon Shaman,” as he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Chansley, who was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the events of Jan. 6, requested in May that the government return the property it confiscated from him at the time of his arrest, including the “horned coyote-tail headdress” and “a six-foot pole with an American flag ziptied to the shaft and a metal spearhead fixed to the top,” as the government has described them.
The Justice Department pushed back on Chansley’s request, arguing in court papers that the items, which were “used to project strength during the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” should remain in federal custody.
But on Monday, Judge Royce Lambert sided with Chansley and ordered the government to return his “unmistakable outfit,” as it has been described in court papers.
“Mr. Chansley has completed his prison sentence and much of his term of supervised release. Now, he has moved for the return of his property seized and still held by the government, including his spear and helmet,” Judge Lamberth wrote.
“Since the government has not established that it still needs these items as evidence and has not sought their forfeiture, the Court will GRANT Mr. Chansley’s motion,” the judge said.
More than 1,265 individuals have been charged in the Capitol attack, with prosecutors securing more than 718 guilty pleas, resulting in incarceration for more than 460 defendants, according to the Justice Department.