East Lyme woman charged in 2020 fatal overdose
East Lyme — A woman has been charged in connection with a fatal overdose that occurred in town in September.
Cara Finan, 32, of 40 Park Place, Niantic, was charged Tuesday with sale of narcotics. She was release on a $30,000 bond and is due to appear Feb. 23 in the Geographical Area 10 courthouse in New London.
Town police said they were called to Finan’s residence on Sept. 9, 2020, for an unresponsive man who had potentially overdosed on fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. The overdose-reversal drug Narcan had been administered before firefighters, police and EMS responders arrived but they administered additional Narcan and tried CPR to revive the 35-year-old man. He eventually was pronounced dead.
A post-mortem by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined he died of a fentanyl overdose, police said Wednesday in a news release announcing Finan's arrest.
After investigating the incident, East Lyme police said they determined that Finan had provided the drug to the deceased. Upon learning that an arrest warrant had been issued, she turned herself in Tuesday, police said.
Connecticut has a Good Samaritan law that provides some immunity to individuals who seek emergency medical care for themselves or another person experiencing a drug overdose. East Lyme police Chief Michael T. Finkelstein said Finan was one of two people who called 911 to report the overdose. The New London State's Attorney's Office determined the sale of narcotics charge was the most appropriate for the case, he said.
The deceased was not publicly identified.
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