Fox Lake woman charged with drug-induced homicide in death of Spring Grove man

A 50-year-old Fox Lake woman has been charged with drug-induced homicide for the overdose death of a Spring Grove man she allegedly provided drugs to at gas station, according to a McHenry County complaint.

Tina L. Meltzer, of the zero to 100 block of Aspen Colony, was arrested on Jan. 15 and is being held on $200,000 bond in McHenry County jail, according to jail records.

On Sept. 23, prosecutors allege, Meltzer delivered heroin and fentanyl to Jeff Beese, 39, in exchange for cash in a Spring Grove gas station, according to court documents.

After the exchange, Beese went into the bathroom at the gas station, according to a court document. Meltzer briefly left the gas station, allegedly retrieved a “rock,” returned and gave the “rock” to a gas station employee. She allegedly told the unnamed employee to give “it” to the man in the bathroom.

After leaving the bathroom Beese was in a car crash. When paramedics arrived, they used naloxone, which can reverse an opioid overdose, and Beese was taken to the hospital, according to court records.

His mother picked him up from the hospital and drove him home to where he still lived with his ex-wife. The two argued and his ex-wife later told police she thought Beese was under the influence, according to court documents. Later that morning, she found Beese laying on the bedroom floor and thought he was sleeping, and she left the home, according to court documents.

His mother tried to reach him on the phone and when he didn’t answer she went to the house and found him on the floor. Police arrived and found a “rock-like substance in a small plastic baggie” on the floor nearby, according to court documents.

A postmortem examination of the body determined cause of death to be the adverse effects of heroin and fentanyl, according to court documents.

To post bond, Meltzer must show the source of the money and prove it is not from an “illegitimate source,” such as drug dealing, assistant state’s attorney Kyle Bruett said in a court document.

Meltzer, due next in court on Feb. 4, did not yet have an attorney as of Thursday afternoon. Drug-induced homicide is a Class X offense punishable by up to 30 years in prison.