Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
A Bensalem Township man is facing charges related to the overdose death of a woman in a Tullytown Borough recovery house.
Matthew Derby Lavender, 25, was arraigned Thursday before on-call District Judge Frank Peranteau Sr. on charges of drug delivery resulting in death, criminal use of a communication facility, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, involuntary manslaughter and possession of a controlled substance.
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Tullytown Borough police were called to the recovery house in the 400 block of Main Street on July 2 just past 10:40 p.m. for a report of a woman suffering cardiac arrest. Upon arrival, officers found 25-year-old Nikki Lee Silva dead. Two unused baggies of heroin and/or fentanyl were found, and three used bags of drugs were located, according to authorities.
The Bucks County Detective’s Drug Strike Force took part in the investigation, and uncovered Lavender supplied the drugs to Silva.
Lavender told a county detective during an August 20 interview that he took Silva to the Kensington section of Philadelphia before her death to buy drugs. In the city, Lavender took money from her to purchase six bags of fentanyl from a street dealer, according to court papers.
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Lavender bought the drugs and provided them to Silva, who then used the fentanyl, leading to her overdose, authorities said.
An autopsy found that Silva died of accidental acute fentanyl intoxication. She was found to have fentanyl and norfentanyl in her system, investigators said.
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“This case emphasizes our commitment to hold all drug dealers criminally accountable,” District Attorney Matt Weintraub said in a statement. “Our message to all the drug dealers out there: If someone dies from the drugs you dealt them, we will investigate you, arrest you, convict you, and sentence you, whenever possible.”
Lavender was sent by the district judge Thursday to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10 percent of $1 million bail.
At the time of his arrest, Lavender was already awaiting trial on charges relating to an alleged April DUI crash in Lower Bucks County, according to a court docket.
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Lavender is also awaiting trial on charges of unlawful dissemination of intimate image and stalking. The Tullytown Borough case dates back to October 2020, according to court filings.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
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