A man has been charged with drug-induced homicide after prosecutors say a son found his mother dead in her home from a fentanyl drug overdose in Mundelein.
The Mundelein Fire Department and Mundelein Police Department responded around 11 a.m. on November 16 to an apartment in the 500 block of North Seymour Avenue for a death investigation.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said a 911 caller reported an unresponsive female following a possible drug overdose.
Paramedics were already on the scene when officers arrived and they pronounced Brenda Peleska, 49, dead.
Peleska’s teenage son told officers he found his mother lying on the floor and immediately called 911, McConnell said.
The teen had last seen his mother the day prior. Officers found drugs and drug paraphernalia next to Peleska.
Investigators sent everything to the crime lab for analysis and also spoke to Peleska’s mother.
She told officers she lived with Peleska and her daughter was sleeping on the couch when she left for work, McConnell said.
A review of Peleska’s phone showed she met up with David M. Koza, 64, of Ingleside, at a nearby bar the day prior.
Detectives interviewed Koza and he admitted to delivering fentanyl to Peleska on November 15, McConnell said.
He said Peleska knew what it was and that it made her sleep. McConnell said Peleska paid Koza $300 in cash for the drugs.
Koza said he purchased the drugs from the same person that Koza’s ex-boyfriend, who died from a drug overdose in October, bought drugs from.
Peleska began purchasing her drugs from Koza at least a year leading up to her death, McConnell said.
The coroner’s office ruled her death the result of fentanyl, heroin, clonazepam and diphenhydramine.
Koza was charged last month with one count of drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony, and an arrest warrant was issued for him. He was arrested on February 13.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Koza pending trial.
Attorney Mary Cole, who is representing Koza, argued for her client’s release during a detention hearing.
Cole said Koza has a minimal criminal history and is a self-employed plumber who began experiencing serious pain due to the nature of his job and required surgeries, which led to an addiction to fentanyl to control the pain.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition to detain following the hearing.
“This is unfortunately an all too familiar story that the court has heard over and over and over,” Nerheim said. “It’s not like you woke up one day and decided to go become addicted to fentanyl.”
The judge said that he believes Koza poses a danger to the community and no conditions of release could mitigate the threat.
Koza remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on March 12 for a preliminary hearing.