A 70-year-old man died of a fentanyl overdose in a White Bear Lake apartment after receiving the drug from another man who was present at the scene, according to the complaint.
Charles Vernon Stevens, who was 34 at the time of the alleged offense, is charged with third-degree murder for allegedly providing fentanyl that led to the victim’s death, in a complaint filed October 30 in Ramsey County District Court.
The complaint says White Bear Lake police responded to a 911 call about a narcotics overdose at an apartment in Ramsey County at about 3:15 a.m. on June 21, 2026. A woman reported that the victim had overdosed on fentanyl. Officers found the victim deceased on the floor and the Ramsey County Medical Examiner later confirmed the cause of death as a fentanyl overdose. Police recovered a used needle, a glass pipe with burn marks and burned tinfoil from the scene.
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Investigators learned that the victim’s vehicle, a 2021 silver Toyota Sienna, was missing from the parking lot. Washington County deputies found the vehicle about 700 feet away, parked across a lane divider with the keys and the victim’s cell phone inside. Surveillance footage placed Charles Vernon Stevens and a woman at the apartment on the day of the overdose.
According to the complaint, Stevens sent a text message to the victim’s brother admitting he was at the scene during the time leading up to the victim’s death and stating that the woman was also present. In a phone interview with police, Stevens denied providing fentanyl to the victim and described the victim as a friend. Stevens refused to meet for an in-person interview.
On August 20, 2026, investigators interviewed the woman in jail in Douglas County, Wisconsin. The woman told investigators that when she entered the apartment, she saw fentanyl out in the open and that the victim was asking Stevens for fentanyl. She said Stevens initially declined but eventually handed fentanyl to the victim and she saw the victim smoke the fentanyl Stevens provided. The woman said she and Stevens left the scene in the victim’s vehicle and she later called 911.
The complaint states that on October 29, 2026, after being arrested in Duluth, Stevens admitted to investigators that he purchased fentanyl and shared it with the victim on June 21, 2026.
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Jurisdictional Context
Ramsey County encompasses Saint Paul and is served by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. Felony cases are heard in the Second Judicial District at the Ramsey County Courthouse in downtown Saint Paul; Ramsey County Community Corrections operates the Ramsey County Correctional Facility in Maplewood.
