Maynard woman charged with murder in Willmar man’s overdose death

Aug. 9—WILLMAR

— A 19-year-old woman is charged with murder and manslaughter in a Willmar man’s overdose death last year.

Mercedes Leigh Carpenter, of

Maynard

, made her first appearance Tuesday in

Kandiyohi County District Court

on three felony counts: third-degree murder — distribution of a controlled substance, second-degree manslaughter — culpable negligence, and third-degree sale of a narcotic.

She was arrested on a warrant Monday afternoon in

Redwood Falls

. Carpenter is alleged to have helped the Willmar man contact another male party in order to purchase drugs.

Early the next morning, the Willmar man was found collapsed in his residence and declared deceased. He was identified as John Jesse Olvera in the criminal complaint. It did not list his age.

The Kandiyohi County Attorney’s Office also filed the same three felony charges against a 26-year-old male from

Benson

. There is an active nationwide warrant for him. As of Wednesday afternoon, court records showed the warrant was still active.

Judge Jennifer Fischer on Tuesday ordered Carpenter held on $500,000 unconditional bail or $50,000 bail with conditions that include no contact with the victim’s family and no use of alcohol or mood-altering drugs. Carpenter remained in the Kandiyohi County Jail as of Wednesday afternoon. Her next court appearance will be a remote hearing scheduled for Aug. 29.

Criminal complaints filed in District Court said data extracted from Olvera’s phone showed he had exchanged messages with Carpenter and the Benson man in order to purchase Percocet pills. Percocet is an opioid pain medication that combines acetaminophen and oxycodone.

According to court documents, Willmar police received a call around 5:12 a.m. Sept. 26, 2022, of a man passed out in a shower.

The collapsed male, later identified as Olvera, was pronounced dead at the scene around 5:23 a.m. The Midwest Medical Examiner’s final autopsy summary indicated the cause of death was fentanyl toxicity.

The male who lived with Olvera told police that Olvera had arrived home around 9 p.m. the previous night. Between 10 and 11 p.m. Olvera took a shower. The male said he noticed Olvera was still in the bathroom at 11 p.m. but didn’t think much of it and went to bed.

Around 5:11 a.m., the roommate woke up and still heard the shower running in the bathroom. He found Olvera collapsed and called family members, who then called 911.

A family member told police she had picked Olvera up earlier in the week from a treatment facility in Mankato. She said he was seeking help for drug addiction.

Another family member said Olvera was known to snort fentanyl, an opioid drug, and that he had not been sober recently.

A snort tube at the scene field-tested positive as fentanyl. A blue pill and two broken pieces of a white pill that were also found.

According to the complaint, data pulled from Olvera’s phone revealed he had spoken with four different people, attempting to buy drugs. The fourth party’s number was eventually traced back to the 26-year-old Benson man.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension crime lab was able to completely retrieve all data from Olvera’s phone and a report was finished on Aug. 2, 2023.

Various messages from Sept. 25, 2022, were reviewed. They discussed where Olvera worked and when the Benson man would arrive there from

Granite Falls

, according to the complaint. Detectives confirmed Olvera had sent $20 to the Benson man via CashApp around 7:56 p.m. Sept. 25.

The data pulled from Olvera’s phone also revealed an exchange with Carpenter. A detective was able to confirm Carpenter’s phone number with the assistance of the Granite Falls Police Department.

According to the complaint, Olvera reached out to Carpenter on Sept. 24 at 8:09 p.m. asking, “any word back from UR boy?”

At 10:15 a.m. the next day Carpenter responds, “hey wya (where you at)?” Olvera also confirmed his workplace with Carpenter at 10:18 a.m. Sept. 25.

Over the next few hours the two exchanged messages about contact information for the Benson man and about when they would arrive to Olvera’s workplace.

Carpenter states the male didn’t like feeling rushed and that the two were on their way to Olvera.

At 8:19 p.m. Sept. 25, Carpenter texts Olvera stating she had one more sale saying, “I got you” and that she appreciated him being patient. At 8:54 p.m., Carpenter texts “I’m here,” according to the complaint.

Olvera responds at 8:55 p.m. “Is that you in that car?”