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Juhaan Justice Hammond, 30, is charged with strict liability for the drug-induced death this past Sunday of Ivan Santiago in Garfield, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced on Friday, Sept. 22.
Santiago and an unidentified second person were hospitalized after overdosing on Lincoln Place shortly after 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17, Musella said.
Narcan was administered, the prosecutor said, adding that Santiago was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Detectives from his Narcotic Task Force conducted an investigation that found Hammond “distributed a fatal dose of narcotics to the victim, causing his death.”
Hammond has a history of various arrests and convictions for robbery, assault and drug-related crimes stretching back nearly a decade.
He also was allowed to continue with a drug court program in Bergen County despite repeated violations that saw him jailed nearly a dozen times over the past several years, records show.
The liability law in New Jersey requires only that prosecutors prove that Hammond sold or otherwise distributed a fatal dose. Neither intent nor reckless disregard for life must be proven.
It applies even when a victim is killed another way — say, being struck by a car — after ingesting the drugs.
Hammond remained held Friday in the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack following his arrest the day before.
In addition to the first-degree count of strict liability in a drug-induced death, he’s charged with distributing counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and possession of amphetamine.
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