Man charged with selling fentanyl-laced heroin in fatal Batavia overdose

A man has been charged with selling fentanyl-laced heroin to a man who overdosed last year in west suburban Batavia.

Alejandro Junco, 28, is charged with a felony count of drug-induced homicide for the May 23, 2018, death of Daniel P. Mate, according to the Kane County sheriff’s office.

Police were called about an unconscious person about 5:15 p.m. and arrived to find Mate, 25, dead of an apparent drug overdose, the sheriff’s office said. Investigators found “signs of recent drug use” near his body and the Kane County coroner’s office found he died of heroin and fentanyl intoxication.

Kane County sheriff’s office

One of his friends told police she’d driven Mate to the South Side of Chicago earlier that day and gave him money to buy heroin from someone she only knew as “Ollie” or “Alejandro.”

Investigators eventually identified Junco as the dealer, police said. In an interview with detectives, he admitted to providing Mate with heroin multiple times in the past and knowing the heroin he sold was laced with fentanyl.

Junco was booked into the Kane County Adult Justice Center Wednesday and remains in custody on $750,000 bail, the sheriff’s office said. His next court date is scheduled for Aug. 2.

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