Man charged with murder in connection to Perryville drug death

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A man who allegedly gave drugs to a woman found dead in a Perryville hotel room in June has been charged with her murder.

Steven A. Harbour, 25, of Fredericktown, Mo., has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Nicole Jones, 20, of Perryville. A warrant was issued for his arrest Thursday. He was already in custody on previous charges of distributing controlled substances on the night of Jones' death.

Her body was discovered June 25 at the Super 8 hotel. A toxicology report showed her death was due to an alcohol and drug overdose.

Perry County Prosecuting Attorney Thomas L. Hoeh alleges Harbour supplied Jones with a deadly cocktail of painkillers, antidepressants and alcohol.

When first questioned by police at the scene, Harbour told officers his drugs were locked up in the hotel room's safe, according to court records. He said he wasn't in the room all the time but his key was in the room, so it was possible someone had gotten to his pills.

He told police that he gave Jones three oxyocodone, three clonazepam and three amitriptylin, according to court records. Harbour also told police he bought alcohol that Jones and another underage girl consumed.

Two other men, the underage girl, Harbour and Jones were present in the hotel room that night. Their relationship to each other is unknown, Hoeh said.

"We allege he not only supplied these various drugs, some of which were controlled substances, he encouraged these people to consume them. We believe the evidence will show he intended to intoxicate these folks. He acted knowing this result was practically certain to occur," Hoeh said.

Another man in the hotel room described Harbour as "handing out his pills like they were candy."

Because Harbour acted knowingly rather than just recklessly, Hoeh said, he was charged with second-degree murder instead of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

"We think there is criminal responsibility when the supplier is giving these things to someone else and encouraging them to overindulge," Hoeh said.

Perry County Coroner Herb Miller determined Jones death was a homicide.

"Even though she took the medications, the man that gave them to her did it with the intentions of putting her out," Miller said. "If she'd taken them by herself, it would have been considered an accidental overdose."

Police recovered pills from the scene that matched the drugs Harbour told police he'd given to Jones and two other men in the hotel room, according to court records. Those same drugs were present in the toxicology report.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

1119 Vincent Drive, Perryville, MO