KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Northland woman has been charged with 1st-degree felony involuntary manslaughter after allegedly selling fentanyl that led to a man’s fatal overdose.
Around 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 21, 2025, police and paramedics were called to a residence on a medical call.
When they arrived, they located a man, later identified by the initials S.J., unresponsive. Less than 30 minutes later, S.J. was declared deceased.
An autopsy revealed S.J.’s cause of death was due to the combined effects of fentanyl and ethanol use.
S.J.’s family allowed detectives to search his cell phone, which revealed an ongoing text message history with a phone number identified as belonging to Caitlin Anderson.
Court documents indicate the text exchanges revealed that S.J. and Anderson had previously arranged drug transactions in which S.J. would purchase carfentanyl in exchange for providing Anderson with fentanyl.
Roughly two weeks before S.J.’s fatal overdose, the pair allegedly coordinated a transaction in which S.J. took a city bus to Anderson’s house to buy drugs.
Anderson bought S.J. an Uber ride to take him home. During the ride, S.J. overdosed.
Investigators say S.J. continued to attempt to buy drugs from Anderson in the days following his overdose, but Anderson had grown weary of being connected to the overdose or something worse in the future.
The pair arranged a transaction just after 6 p.m. on Feb. 21. Court documents included a text Anderson sent S.J.
“Will u delete our convo please?? Sorry, I’m being paranoid,” Anderson allegedly said in the text.
S.J. suffered his fatal overdose later that night.
Police eventually spoke with Anderson, in which she described her drug transaction relationship with S.J. Court documents reveal that when detectives informed Anderson about S.J.’s death, she “expressed remorse and started crying.”
On Friday, Jackson County prosecutors charged Anderson with involuntary manslaughter and requested Anderson be held on $100,000 bond.
—
If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
