Minneapolis woman charged in opioid overdose death

A 25-year-old woman from Minneapolis has been charged for arranging a drug deal with a Chaska man that led to his fatal overdose in January.

Leah Victoria Peterson is charged with aiding and abetting murder in the third degree in the death of 27-year-old John Michael Hall. Prosecutors allege that Peterson texted and called Hall to arrange a heroin deal on the night of Jan. 6 and morning of Jan. 7. She told investigators that she set up the deal, but that another man handled the heroin. They say she admitted that she suspected the heroin was laced with carfentanil when they gave it to Hall.

Texts included in the criminal complaint show Hall and Peterson texting about the drug deal, and Hall offering to pay for the heroin with marijuana and a Target gift card with a $30 balance on it.

Peterson said she and an unnamed man bought heroin in Minneapolis on the night of Jan. 6, then bought and used meth in Prior Lake before meeting Hall in the parking lot of his apartment in Chaska. Peterson said Hall shot the heroin into his arm in the back seat of the car.

Hall was pronounced dead the morning after the drug deal after his roommate discovered his body. Peterson told investigators that she'd known that he'd died of an overdose when she tried to pawn the gift card a couple days later.

Carfentanil is a powerful opioid that was responsible for a string of overdose deaths in the Twin Cities earlier this year. A medical examiner determined in May that Hall had been killed by carfentanil.

Peterson is in custody at Carver County Jail with bail set at $250,000 with conditions. Her first appearance is scheduled for Friday at the Carver County courthouse in Chaska.