A sophomore charged with supplying drugs that led to another student's death pleaded not guilty at his arraignment yesterday.
Prosecutors said 20-year-old James Tyler Wagers, of Mansfield, committed involuntary manslaughter when he provided hallucinogenic mushrooms to Eric Hansen. Hansen later fell from his Weld Hall dorm window in April while using the drugs. He was 20 at the time of his death.
During the autopsy, the coroner discovered the mushroom-derived hallucinogen psilocin in Hansen's system. Released earlier this summer, the report lists blunt force trauma to the head as the cause of death.
Though the drug did not kill Hansen, he would not have fallen if he did not use the hallucinogen, prosecutors have said. They have added that they will not need to prove the drug caused Hansen's death on its own, but rather that it contributed to the accident.
Police arrested Wagers in Huron County, and a grand jury charged him with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated drug trafficking last week. He could spend 11-and-a-half years in prison if convicted.
Judge Alan Goldsberry, who is sitting in for Michael Ward as he presides over a murder case, continued the $40,000 bail that a Huron County court imposed. Wagers has posted bail and been released from prison until his trial starts on Nov. 12.
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Frank Thomas
