Family objects to plea deal for uncle's role in overdose death

Roseanne DeBruyn’s call for a Westmoreland County judge to reject the terms in a proposed plea bargain for her former brother-in-law went unheeded on Tuesday.

Jeffrey R. Carlson, 58, of Glassport, Allegheny County, was charged in connection with the death of DeBruyn’s son in 2022.

Carlson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and abuse of a corpse related to the overdose of 26-year-old Michael DeBruyn of Hempfield. Prosecutors last year dismissed a related charge of involuntary manslaughter.

“Taking away this charge took away accountability for my child dying,” Roseanne DeBruyn testified. “The defendant deserves no gifts, lenience or compassion as he showed absolutely none to Michael, me or to all who loved my son.”

Carlson was sentenced to serve three to 23 months in jail.

He will be eligible for parole in late March. Carlson has been in jail since Dec. 21 after he was arrested on a bench warrant for failure to appear at a scheduled guilty plea hearing last May.

Michael DeBruyn’s body was found Aug. 10, 2022 in a parking lot near the MedExpress Urgent Care near Route 30 in North Huntingdon, about three days after he was last seen and reportedly overdosed in Carlson’s presence.

Police said Carlson initially denied any involvement or knowledge of DeBruyn’s death. But evidence that surfaced during the investigation revealed he had been with his nephew and left him in a sealed parked vehicle for days as summer temperatures soared.

Investigators claim Carlson attempted to cover up his involvement and sent photos taken before Michael DeBruyn’s death to his mother. The photos showed the man sleeping at a North Versailles home where Carlson lived at the time.

Authorities said surveillance video from locations on Route 30 showed Carlson’s Mustang traveling in the area overnight between Aug. 8 and 9 before parking at 1:07 a.m.

Carlson was identified in the video as walking along the highway. Cellphone records showed Carlson’s phone was in the area during that time, investigators said.

According to court records, Carlson told police he initially planned to drive Debruyn home as he sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle, but Debruyn groaned and stopped breathing. Police said Carlson drove the car to the location where it was ultimately found and discarded Debruyn’s cellphone and wallet out the window.

Carlson never sought help for his dying nephew, police said.

According to court records, DeBruyn died from a fentanyl overdose.

Family members denied DeBruyn used illegal drugs and urged the judge to reject the plea bargain.

“Jeffrey knew what was wrong and he attempted to conceal it,” DeBruyn’s aunt, Monica Kitta, testified. “Michael needed help and Jeffrey was his uncle. He abandoned his struggling nephew in his own car. It was not just an accident but total disregard for Michael’s life. Michael and his family deserve support from the criminal justice system.”

Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio said she was not permitted to force prosecutors to refile the involuntary manslaughter charge.

“It sometimes happens where morality and legality doesn’t match up,” the judge said.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Barr said prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence to support an involuntary manslaughter conviction. There was no evidence that linked Carlson to the drugs found in DeBruyn’s system at the time of his death, he said.

“I didn’t know if I could prove to a jury there was causation, and that’s why we came up with this deal,” Barr said. “The two things we can’t change are the facts and the law.”

The plea deal carried a longer sentence than is called for under standard state guidelines, Barr said, suggesting that without the deal, Carlson was likely to receive no jail time.

Carlson told the judge he wanted to help his nephew.

“I am very sorry about this. I loved him. He was my nephew,” Carlson said. “A few weeks before it (happened), he needed help and I tried to take him to an alcohol treatment center and they couldn’t take him.”

Roseann DeBruyn said she still struggles to understand the cruelty she attributed to Carlson, a man who had known her son since his birth.

“Today, I stand before God and ask for his forgiveness because I cannot find forgiveness anywhere within my being for this monster who so horrifically and carelessly let my only child die,” she said.