Woman Charged with Reckless Homicide in Heroin Overdose Death

A 24-year-old Madison woman is facing homicide charges under the state’s Len Bias law for the November of a Waukesha man.

Natasha A. Hedstrom, was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Tuesday with one count of first-degree reckless homicide, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of possession of a controlled substance in the overdose death of , 30. If convicted, she could face up to 40 years in prison and $101,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

Hedstrom met Ropel in November and helped him obtain heroin from drug dealers she knew on the north side of Milwaukee. She first took him there on Nov. 26 when he wanted to obtain Adderall and heroin.

Ropel gave her some of the heroin in exchange for getting the drug, but he didn’t shoot up at the time because he had a drug test.

Two days later, he contacted her again to get heroin. They purchased the drugs from another dealer in Milwaukee then shot up in a Walgreens parking lot before going back to Ropel’s residence in the 2700 block of Summit Avenue.

The two hung out at Ropel’s house for awhile and at one point in the night he shot up more heroin. Ropel began to nod off, but Hedstrom knew he needed to stay awake so they drove to an area gas station, then she told him they were going to watch a movie at his place.

Ropel was laying face down on a bed and asked Hedstrom for a back rub. He began to snore so she shook him to wake him up.

Eventually she turned him over and noticed he was blue in the face, so she splashed water on him and tried to perform CPR before calling 911. Investigators found a pair of tennis shoes near the bed with a syringe full of liquid inside and a spoon with residue on it.

Police searched Hedstrom’s car and they found unused syringes along with several packages of Suboxone films.

Hedstrom is not in custody and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.