Woman charged with murder in Litchfield, Minnesota, man's fatal overdose

Nov. 18—LITCHFIELD

— A woman alleged to have sold drugs to a 60-year-old Litchfield man who died of an overdose this summer made her first appearance earlier this month on a third-degree murder charge.

Jaimee Nichole Traylor, 26, of Shakopee, was arrested Oct. 31 in St. Cloud on a Meeker County warrant. Traylor was also charged with third-degree sale of a controlled substance.

She appeared on the two charges Nov. 6 in Meeker County District Court. Judge Stephanie Beckman set bail at $750,000 bail without conditions or $500,000 with conditions that include Traylor not possess or use alcohol or other mood-altering substances, she submit to random testing, and be barred from leaving the state without prior court approval.

Traylor remained in custody in the Meeker County Jail as of Friday. Her next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 29.

According to an initial news release from Sgt. Ross Ardoff, commander of the CEE-VI Drug and Gang Task Force, Traylor was in a stolen motor vehicle when arrested and possessed a substance believed to be fentanyl.

A medical examiner later determined the Litchfield man's manner of death to be "an 'accident' based upon the consumption" of substances identified through an expanded drug and alcohol panel, the criminal complaint states. The medical examiner determined the man's cause of death was toxic effects of acetyl fentanyl, fentanyl, methamphetamine and xylazine.

According to the filed criminal complaint:

On July 31, 2023, the Litchfield Police Department responded to a report of a deceased male at a residence in the 700 block of East South Street in Litchfield.

An adult male who also lived at the residence told law enforcement that he returned from work and found the man unresponsive on a couch. According to the complaint, the roommate said he and his significant other lived in the upstairs portion of the home.

The roommate said that the man had told him the day before that someone would be bringing cocaine over, but the roommate was unsure if anyone had done so. He told investigators that he had gone to bed around 8:30 p.m. and left the next morning around 7:30 a.m.

According to the complaint, the roommate saw the male on the couch, but thought he was still sleeping. When he returned later in the day, he found the male unconscious and stiff, so he called 911.

Officers spoke with an adult female who reported to officers that she had arrived at the residence in Litchfield around 1:30 a.m. July 31, 2023. She said she did not bring any controlled substances to the home.

She reported two lines of dark-colored powder were on an end table, and that the man told her a friend had dropped it off. While the two were talking, the woman said he combined the two lines and snorted the powder into his nose using a rubber tube, according to the complaint.

According to the woman, the two talked for approximately 15 to 20 minutes when the man leaned back on the couch and had a "blank stare." She said the man's body began to twitch and turned colors. During the incident, she believed he was going through a sleep apnea episode, as she knew he suffered from the condition.

According to the complaint, the woman left and locked the door. She told officers that she did not call 911 because she "didn't want to make a big deal of the situation," if the man was going to be fine.

On Sept. 28, an agent of the CEE-VI task force, which was assisting the Litchfield Police Department in the investigation, received data from a search warrant request of the man's cellphone. According to the complaint, text messages exchanged with a number, later determined to belong to Traylor, showed that Traylor had dropped off drugs to the man.

Video footage from an outside camera pointed toward the man's residence showed a white SUV parking in the man's driveway. It leaves about a half-hour later, according to the complaint.

The female witness is also seen on video footage parking her car near the residence shortly after the white SUV leaves.

Traylor agreed to speak with investigators on Oct. 31 at a medical facility in St. Cloud and reported to officers that she knew the Litchfield man and had been to his house prior to July 31, 2023.

She said on July 30, he had asked her to pick up a ball of cocaine for him. According to the complaint, Traylor went to Minneapolis with another adult male and bought $40 worth of cocaine. She then texted the male in Litchfield. She arrived at the Litchfield residence with the cocaine around 1 a.m. July 31.

According to the complaint, Traylor said she left the drugs on a table and took money that was already placed on it to perform the exchange.

Traylor also had a friend meet her at the Litchfield home to drive her from there to another place in the city of Winsted. Traylor said her friend was never involved in the drug exchange, and the two left in a white SUV.

Traylor told police that she heard the female witness was the last person to see the man and said she was the reason why he died. However, she did not deny she was involved in a deal that caused an overdose.