On Wednesday, Edmonton police marked a milestone when they charged a man with manslaughter in the death of a man who overdosed on fentanyl. The parents of the accused said they’re shocked at the charge.
On Wednesday, police said Jordan Yarmey, 25, had been charged in the death of Szymon Kalich, 33, who died in January from a fentanyl overdose.
Yarmey’s parents spoke to CTV News Thursday, and said they were shocked their son had been arrested while meeting with his probation officer Monday.
“He had gone for his meeting with his parole officer, as he was required to do, and I was waiting for him to come home and have something to eat and he called me from downtown saying he’d been arrested,” Helen Yarmey said. “So he was quite surprised.”
George and Helen Yarmey said their son was addicted to fentanyl, and had overdosed more than once – but had been in rehab since being charged with drug trafficking in January.
“He was doing very well, we had our son back,” his mother said. “He had been to rehab, he had been seeking addiction counselling, he had been doing everything to turn his life around.”
The lawyer for the accused, Timothy Dunlap, said he doesn’t like the timeline, saying a manslaughter charge ten months after a death is too long of a delay.
“That’s what this is all about, it’s the opportunity for the police to put a splash in the paper about someone being arrested,” Dunlap said.
Yarmey’s bail hearing was put over to Monday, Dunlap said they plan to fight the manslaughter charge.
With files from Jeremy Thompson
