An East Petersburg man was convicted of drug delivery resulting in death and criminal conspiracy in Lancaster County Court on October 13.
Jeremy J. Morant, 31 of the 2600 block of Northfield Drive, was found guilty by jury after a three-day trial before Lancaster County Judge Jeffery Wright that concluded last Thursday.
Morant was charged with selling fentanyl that caused Brittany Zimmerman's death on February 20, 2021, in a room at the Classic Inn on Lincoln Highway East. Zimmerman was 26 years old and resided in Manheim.
(Photo courtesy of the Zimmerman family)
East Lampeter Township Police responded to the hotel around 11:00 a.m. for the report of cardiac arrest. The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office pronounced the victim deceased at 12:23 p.m. after life-saving measures were taken. The cause of death was determined to be acute fentanyl toxicity.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Morant was living at the nearby Econo Lodge hotel and arranged a fentanyl transaction with the victim there.
The defense argued that the fentanyl, which toxicology reports showed was approximately three times the lethal limit, could’ve been provided to the victim from someone other than Morant.
“There’s no evidence that [the victim] received fentanyl from anyone but the defendant,” said First Assistant District Attorney Todd Brown, who prosecuted the case. “The defendant agreed to deliver fentanyl to [the victim] and ultimately that fentanyl killed her.”
The jury returned its guilty verdict after approximately 40 minutes of deliberation.
Morant remains in Lancaster County Prison awaiting sentencing. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered and bail was raised to $250,000.
East Lampeter Township Police Detective Christopher Jones filed charges, testified, and attended the entirety of trial.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sean McBryan, semcbryan@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @SeanMcBryanLanc.
