Judge forwards case of Smithsburg woman accused of manslaughter in drug overdose

The case of a Smithsburg woman accused of manslaughter in the drug overdose death of her boyfriend has been forwarded to Washington County Circuit Court after a preliminary hearing this week in District Court.

District Judge Mark D. Thomas found probable cause for prosecution on the manslaughter charge as well as two counts each of distributing narcotics and administration of narcotics against Chastity Dawn Kline, 34, of 12804 Bikle Road, according to Assistant State's Attorney Leon Debes.

She is charged in the Feb. 3 death of Cody Lynn Delauter, 33, at his Williamsport home, according to the charging documents filed by the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Thomas kept Kline's bail at $200,000, Debes said.

Kline declared she was innocent at her April 7 bond review hearing and denied injecting Delauter with heroin.

Detective Greg Alton of the sheriff's office was the only person to testify Tuesday, Debes said.

An autopsy determined Delauter died of a mixed drug overdose, the charging documents said. There was enough heroin and cocaine in his system that either drug alone could have caused his death, the documents said.

 Delauter had prescriptions for Oxycodone and another for Hydromorphone, both powerful painkillers, written by a Rockville, Md., physician two days earlier, the documents said. One bottle was empty, and two others were partially empty, the documents said.

 Investigators dialed the last number Delauter called on his cell phone on Feb. 2. The man they called said Delauter told him he was going to dinner with his girlfriend, Chastity, the documents said.

 Delauter's relatives told police Kline contacted them on Feb. 8, saying she might be the beneficiary of his life-insurance policy, the documents said. Kline told the relatives she left Delauter's home early on the night of Feb. 2, the documents said.

 On Feb. 26, friends of Delauter told investigators they loaned Delauter $500 on Feb. 1 to pay the doctor to write the prescriptions and another $130 to buy the medications, the documents said. Kline told them she then drove Delauter around to sell the prescription drugs and buy other drugs with the money, the documents said.

 The friends told investigators that after Delauter's Feb. 13 memorial service, Kline said Delauter was "speed-balling" on Feb. 2, and she injected him with a combination of cocaine and heroin several times, the documents said.    

 A third person corroborated the friends' account, the documents said.

 On Feb. 28, Washington County Drug Task Force agents arranged for one of the friends to make a monitored phone call to Kline, the documents said. Investigators allege Kline said she injected Delauter with "whatever he crushed up" on Feb. 2, the documents said.