Man takes plea in teen overdose death case

By Jeff Pope

Friday, May 29, 2009 | 4:18 p.m.

A man charged in the death of a teenager who overdosed on prescription drugs has changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.

Neal Hussey entered a plea agreement last Thursday in which he pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter and child abuse and neglect in the death of 16-year-old Donald Jacobson.

The voluntary manslaughter charge carries a maximum 10 year sentence and the child abuse charge is punishable for up to six years.

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 20.

Under the agreement, the second-degree murder charge was dropped along with three charges of trafficking a controlled substance and one additional charge of child abuse and neglect.

The coroner’s office ruled that Jacobson died of an accidental overdose of the painkiller hydrocodone on April 12, 2008.

Juries rarely convict a defendant of murder based on an overdose, prosecutor Noreen Nyikos said. A jury instead could have found Hussey guilty of the included involuntary manslaughter charge, which carries a four-year maximum sentence.

Hussey’s attorney, Conrad Claus, could not be reached.

Jacobson was a junior at Centennial High School and worked at a tire store where Hussey was his manager.

Authorities allege that Hussey gave Jacobson more than 160 prescription pills, including 32 hydrocodone pills. Pills found in Jacobson’s car belonged to Hussey, Nyikos said.

“I think this is a very favorable agreement for the state and for the victim and it really gives Donald some justice,” Nyikos said.