A Gloversville man accidentally killed his girlfriend last May when he provided her his prescribed methadone and a hypodermic needle and then failed to immediately seek medical attention for her, according to a sealed indictment opened Tuesday in Fulton County Court.
Joseph Labadia, 27, of East Fulton Street, is charged with criminally negligent homicide and two drug sale counts in the May 19, 2007, death of Stephanie Hudson, 33, of Washington Street, Gloversville.
Fulton County District Attorney Louise K. Sira said Gloversville detectives were able to close the case after a long investigation marked by hard work.
When police first responded to a report of a possible overdose, said city police Capt. James Lorenzoni, Hudson was found dead in her apartment and it was initially assumed she was solely responsible for her overdose.
The subsequent investigation determined Labadia supplied the methadone and the hypodermic, which was located and tested for DNA, police said.
Lorenzoni said both Labadia’s and Hudson’s DNA were found in the hypodermic.
Sira said Labadia had a prescription for the methadone.
Acting Police Chief Edgar Beaudin said the arrest was long delayed as detectives waited for lab results on the DNA and toxicology.
Sira declined to say whether Labadia has confessed to his role in Hudson’s death. An autopsy attributed death to cardiac arrhythmia due to the combined effects of the methadone and an anti-depressant Hudson was prescribed.
Sira said the fourth-degree drug sale count is more serious than the homicide count. Criminally negligent homicide is an E level felony punishable by a maximum term of 11⁄3 to 4 years.
But, Sira said, the more serious of the two drug sale counts is a C level felony exposing Labadia to a fixed prison term ranging from a minimum of one year to a maximum of five years.
Though Labadia did not sell drugs to Hudson, Sira said, providing and selling drugs is the same under the penal code.
Labadia, who was also charged with fifth-degree sale and criminal possession of a hypodermic needle, was arraigned Tuesday before state Supreme Court Judge Richard T. Aulisi. Bail was set at $25,000.
The indictment accuses Labadia of failing to obtain immediate medical attention for Hudson after she exhibited an adverse physical reaction to the injection.
Lorenzoni said the investigation determined he may have waited hours before calling for help.
Labadia was arrested Tuesday at an Indian Lake residence and turned over to Gloversville police.
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