Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Friday, September 05, 2008

Sheriff seeks charge in overdose death

GRANTSBURG, Wis. (AP) — The Burnett County sheriff is seeking a reckless homicide charge against a summer camp staffer who he said administered the drug that killed a mentally disabled camper.

Trade Lake Camp for adults with disabilities has voluntarily closed.

Investigators say 49-year-old Shirley Meade was given a prescription drug intended for someone else. Meade was left to sleep it off after the staffer realized the mistake, Sheriff Dean Roland said, and she might be alive today if the staff member had sought medical help.

An autopsy showed Meade died of an overdose, Roland said. He is asking prosecutors to file a charge of first-degree reckless homicide against the staffer.

The Grantsburg camp is the same one from which a 25-year-old Minnesota man with autism went missing in June. Keith Kennedy was found alive seven days after he disappeared.

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