Three Individuals Charged in Ocean County Drug Death Case
Three people were charged on November 14, 2023: Michael Wormann, 38, of Toms River; Ryan Thompson, 35; and Tina Martinez, 61, of Trenton. They were accused of being responsible for the drug overdose death of a 55-year-old man in Berkeley Township on September 29, 2023.
When Berkeley Township Police Department officers were called to a home on Torrey Pines Drive on September 29, 2023, they discovered a man who had tragically overdosed on drugs.
Wormann, Thompson, and Martinez were implicated in providing the victim with fentanyl the day before he passed away, on September 28, 2023, according to the results of a comprehensive investigation conducted by several police enforcement departments.
Three people have been criminally charged after giving drugs to a man which resulted in his death, officials said.:
Three people have been criminally charged after giving drugs to a man which resulted in his death, officials said. https://t.co/KxqB6xGWz5
— Jersey Shore Online (@jshoreonline) November 30, 2023
On September 30, 2023, Wormann was first accused with possessing and distributing fentanyl. Berkeley Township Police officers apprehended him without incident at his residence, however they later released him until his scheduled court appearance.
On October 17, 2023, Martinez was accused of planning to distribute fentanyl. She was taken into custody at her Trenton home and later freed to appear in court.
On October 20, 2023, Thompson was charged with a similar offense for allegedly plotting to distribute fentanyl. He was arrested at his home in Trenton, and he is being held in the Ocean County Jail as he waits for a detention hearing.
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The Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office came to the conclusion that fentanyl was the cause of the man’s death after receiving new information from other investigations and toxicology testing confirming the drug’s presence in the victim’s system. Thus, on November 14, 2023, Wormann, Thompson, and Martinez were all charged with Strict Liability Induced Death.
On November 14, 2023, Thompson was served with the extra charge while incarcerated in Ocean County Jail. On November 15, 2023, Wormann turned himself in at Berkeley Township Police Headquarters. As a result of New Jersey Bail Reform, he was afterwards freed.
On November 30, 2023, investigators from the Trenton City Police Department and Berkeley Township Police Department arrested Martinez at her home in Trenton. Pending a detention hearing, she is still being held in Ocean County Jail.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office is grateful for the law enforcement agencies’ cooperation in this investigation. It’s crucial to remember that the charges listed are only accusations, and that unless a person is proven guilty in a court of law, they are all regarded as innocent.
