A 22-year-old New Jersey man was sentenced to eight years in state prison on Thursday for giving the fatal overdose of drugs to a juvenile
Austin Cooper, of Willingboro, Burlington County, delivered 10 bags of heroin to the home of Madison McDonald, 15, of Marlton, in December 2017. Cooper pleaded guilty in April.
McDonald's father found his daughter unresponsive after the overdose. She was transported to Virtua Marlton Hospital and then the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she died two days later.
"We sadly have grown accustomed to drug overdoses taking the lives of young people, from all walks of life," Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in a statement. "We rarely, however, see someone as young as 15 die this way, which only deepens the tragedy of Madison's death."
According to the Burlington County Times, police involved in the case said McDonald is one of the youngest victims of a fatal overdose that the department has ever investigated.
Follow Emily & PhillyVoice on Twitter @emily_rolen | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Add Emily’s RSS feed to your feed reader
Have a news tip? Let us know.