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PRICE — A judge has ordered a Price woman to stand trial on two charges filed in connection with a 2013 heroin overdose that killed a Carbon County man.
Shelbi Elizabeth Mower, 37, is charged in 7th District Court with manslaughter and distribution of a controlled substance, both second-degree felonies. On Monday, Judge George Harmond ruled that there was sufficient probable cause to bind Mower over to stand trial on both charges.
Mower, Jason Jared Jaimez and Amee Lavon Averett supplied Trevor Jay "TJ" Whiteside with heroin on Dec. 23, 2013, and then failed to seek help for Whiteside when he overdosed, according to prosecutors. Whiteside, 47, died as a result of the overdose, investigators said.
Jaimez, 38, pleaded guilty in December to manslaughter, a third-degree felony, and distribution of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony. A judge sentenced him to serve 300 days in jail or in an inpatient drug treatment program. Jaimez was also ordered to serve 36 months probation and participate in ongoing substance abuse therapy.
Averett, 24, pleaded guilty in March to negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor, and distribution of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony. She is scheduled to be sentenced June 1.
A two-day jury trial in Mower's case is set to begin July 15. Each charge against her carries a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
