A man in Akron is facing numerous charges in connection with a drug overdose that killed 48-year-old Nathan Strickland on June 17.
According to the Akron Police Department, Antonio Goodwin, 34, was identified as a suspect following an "extensive investigation." Authorities said they believe Goodwin sold Strickland the drugs that killed him. Phone records proved to be a key evidence point in the investigation, specifically Strickland's phone, which showed who he communicated with, according to Detective Dave Garro.
Strickland's mother, Debbie Miller, said that her prayers were answered when she recently learned that someone had been charged in connection with her son's fentanyl overdose death. Strickland was a father of three and worked as a roofer.
Miller said her son struggled with alcohol, and sometimes with drugs, over the years, but she feels her son didn't know what he was taking when he snorted fentanyl last summer.
Strickland died on June 17. His body was found in his pickup truck near a gas station on Copley Road in Akron. He was found to have a high amount of fentanyl in his system, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner.
"He died so quickly. He was sitting behind the driver's wheel of his vehicle, foot on the brake, car in gear and a cigarette burning in his hand," Garro said.
On Nov. 2, authorities executed a search warrant at a home in the 800 block of Nome Avenue. Goodwin was taken into custody, but another man tried to drive away from the scene, only to crash the vehicle he was driving; he was then arrested. During his arrest, police said that they found 95 ecstasy pills on him, as well as 50 grams of cocaine and 56 grams of marijuana.
Back at the house, authorities found 390 grams of methamphetamines and two handguns.
Goodwin is charged with drug trafficking, having weapons under disability, corrupting another with drugs and involuntary manslaughter. The man who fled is charged with drug trafficking, drug abuse and willful fleeing. Both men are currently being held in the Summit County Jail.
"Nate the Great is missed by all of us," said Strickland's father, Phil. "I wish the material that he got a hold of would not be as handy as it is these days.
Miller said she misses her son every day, and while an arrest doesn't bring him back, she hopes the case sends a message.
"He made the wrong choice, but someone should still pay for what happened," she said.
