LAKE CITY, Fla. – A Lake City man has been sentenced to life in prison following a conviction for his role in supplying illegal narcotics, resulting in the death of a woman back in August 2020.
Christopher Jones, 56, and Rosandra Crusaw, 45, were both convicted of willful homicide and selling illegal narcotics containing fentanyl. Crusaw is still awaiting her sentencing, which is scheduled for next Wednesday.
The case against Jones and Crusaw began nearly three years ago when Columbia County deputies responded to a home where a woman from Pennsylvania in her early 30s was found unresponsive in bed. Investigators said she was still holding a syringe in her hand and that 49 pills of trazadone, an anti-depressant, were also on the bed next to her.
The woman was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead from an apparent overdose. Investigators later learned the drugs she used were laced with fentanyl. A multi-jurisdictional investigation into the woman’s death lasted for nearly a year and led authorities to Jones and Crusaw the following summer. Both were indicted on charges of homicide and selling illegal narcotics containing fentanyl.
“This is a landmark conviction in our area,” Sheriff Mark Hunter said in a prepared statement. “Mr. Jones will spend the rest of his life in prison and will no longer be able to cause harm in our community. I commend our detectives and law enforcement partners who stayed the course during this complex investigation as well as our State Attorney’s Office who pursued justice on behalf of the victim and her family in this case.”
Jones went on trial Monday. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison all on the same day. Florida court records show he has a history of criminal convictions for burglary, theft, grand theft, illegal possession of a firearm, passing worthless checks and domestic violence. Crusaw was also convicted, but after she took a plea deal.