May 20, 2013
A central Florida man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for a teen's fatal overdose.
As part of a deal with Volusia County prosecutors, 33-year-old Richard Newkirk pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance to a minor instead.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that he had been facing a first-degree murder charge.
Authorities say Newkirk took then-14-year-old Bryce Parson and now-18-year-old Austin Wilcher to a local laboratory in May 2011.
The adult and two teens dug used methadone bottles out of a trash bin outside and then went back to an Ormond Beach home.
That's where they mixed water with the contents and drank it.
The two teens got sick and passed out, and Parson never woke up.
