After almost nine months of investigations, the family of an ASU student who was found dead from a drug overdose finally got closure.
In January, Andrew Tucker, a 19-year-old broadcasting freshman from Lubbock, Texas, died of an overdose in his Best Hall dorm room.
Jessika Osborne pled guilty in September to administering narcotic drugs to Tucker the night he died.
Maricopa County Superior Court sentenced the 19-year-old from Gilbert on Friday to 5 years of probation with an initial jail term of 9 months and 120 hours of community service.
Osborne has already served 95 days worth of her jail sentence.
Stan Tucker, father of the deceased, addressed the judge before the sentencing.
"There is nothing the court can do to ease the pain and minimize the loss we feel," Stan Tucker said. "But we ask that the decision is based on Jessika and on getting her turned around and on the right track."
In July, Osborne admitted to Tempe police that she cooked a combination of heroin and cocaine and injected it into Tucker the night of Jan. 18 in his residence hall.
Tucker's friends decided to contact police after not seeing him for several days. ASU police found him dead on the morning of Jan. 21.
Osborne told police that she and Tucker frequently used heroin on weekends, and that she injected him about 75 percent of the time they used together.
Although the Maricopa County Board of Medical Examiners ruled Tucker's death a homicide in April, Osborne was not charged with the death.
"Even though you weren't charged with the death, you still need to feel responsible for the result of your actions," Judge Barbara Jarrett said to Osborne.
Osborne's substance abuse counselor, Mike Salazar, said she had expressed extreme remorse about Tucker's death, and that she has had a problem that she can't overcome on her own.
"She has a disease, and she can't control her abuse of substances," Salazar said.
Prosecuting attorney Jason Johannes described Osborne's history of drug use beginning at age 13 with marijuana and eventually moving into cocaine, LSD, mushrooms and heroin.
"Heroin addicts will do anything to get high," he said. "Unless [Osborne] is helped, she will be committed to a life of crime."
Osborne's defense attorney didn't underplay her addiction and said her family did not post bond in order to "protect her, because she has no control" over her drug problem.
"She feels a tremendous loss for the Tuckers," he said. "She will have to deal with it for the rest of her life."
Tucker's girlfriend, Allison Bannhill, traveled with the Tucker family from Lubbock to attend the sentencing.
"It's good for her, and she will now have a better chance at living," Bannhill said about Osborne's sentencing.
Bannhill said she thinks the sentence will provide some closure for the Tucker family.
"We talk at least once a week, and it's always underlying. I think it will help now that it's over," she said.
Reach the reporter at christina.viloria@asu.edu.
| Related Stories |
| Jan. 23, 2002 - Student found dead in campus dorm room |
| Jan. 25, 2002 - New information given in dorm room death |
| April 4, 2002 - Student death ruled homicide |
| April 5, 2002 - Friends react to homicide ruling on Tucker's death |
| April 6, 2002 - Police pursuing suspect in ASU homicide case |
| June 25, 2002 - Friend injects lethal dose in ASU drug-death |
| Sept. 13, 2002 - Glendale girl pleads guilty in homicide of ASU sophomore |
