It was a bittersweet end to a marathon court case that would decide if a Dorchester man was responsible for the overdose death of a 23-year-old woman at a Plymouth sober house.
The defendant, William McNeill, 39, pleaded guilty this week in Plymouth Superior Court to manslaughter and drug distribution charges — almost seven years after Felishia Caraway-Mudd was found unresponsive at the Seaview Recovery Home for Women on Jan. 28, 2019.
McNeill was sentenced to 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 years in Souza- Baranowski state prison on Tuesday. He has already served 4-1/2 years in the Plymouth County Correctional Facility off Long Pond Road.
After the courtroom mostly cleared, the young woman’s mother was invited to the bench — where she and Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone shared an emotional moment. Though you couldn’t hear their words, their body language suggested the grief-stricken mother was thanking the judge for her compassion.
Though the case is over, Elizabeth Hunt’s pain will never cease. She carried a blown-up photo of her daughter into the courtroom, where she was surrounded by friends who came for support.
“There are no words that can ever express the depth of hurt in my heart and soul,” Hunt wrote in an impact statement filed in court last week. “I will carry this sorrow every day for the rest of my life. It is just agonizing.”
Caraway-Mudd, of Hingham, was living at the Seaview Recovery Home, trying to get clean, when she overdosed on fentanyl.
Hunt said her daughter, a graduate of Hingham High School and Anna Maria College, hoped to become a nurse and was an addict only briefly before her death.
“It only takes one time,” Hunt said in an interview.
Through phone records, troopers were able to show that before she overdosed, she communicated by cellphone with McNeill. Text messages from McNeill showed that he warned her that the product was “potentially lethal.”
Caraway-Mudd’s friend, Brian Payne, died of a similar overdose a few weeks earlier and had also communicated with McNeill, police said, though McNeill wasn’t charged in his death.
McNeill was first arrested on an out of state warrant in February 2019 but took off before he could be charged in Caraway-Mudd’s death. He wasn’t arraigned for manslaughter until May 2021, court records show.
Hunt had counted the days.
“Your honor, it took 829 days for the defendant to be arrested as he evaded warrants,” she wrote in her impact statement.
She told the Plymouth Independent that each day she marked on her hand how long it had been since her daughter’s death, and then wiped her hand clean each day when she got to work.
“In those 829 days, the defendant went on with his life as though nothing had happened,” she wrote. “In my life those 829 days were pure misery. In those 829 days, I anguished. My concern and worry every day was who else may have been harmed from the defendant’s actions.”
McNeill initially pleaded not guilty and was scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 12.
With his lengthy criminal record, he would have faced up to 20 years in prison on the manslaughter charge if he were convicted at trial.
Plymouth County prosecutors requested a sentence of 12 to 15 years.
McNeill, they wrote in court papers, was a “career drug dealer with multiple prior convictions for similar crimes.
“In this case,” they said, “the defendant knowingly dealt a potent and lethal dose of fentanyl to the victim… (He) displayed an egregious lack of appreciation for the life of the victim, and others in the community while he sold fentanyl.”
McNeill’s lawyer, Nicole Oribhabor, asked for a much lighter sentence, four to five years — which would have meant he would be freed almost immediately, since he’s already served 4-1/2 years.
McNeill, she said, “recognizes the consequences of his actions” and wants to mentor younger people with drug problems.
He has strong family ties including four children he has been unable to spend time with, she said.
She suggested the judge place him on probation with “strict conditions” so he can help other people.
“You have a strong advocate in your corner,” Cannone told McNeill, referring to Oribhabor. She added that he may eventually be able to apply for parole.
After Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Jessica Croker recited the facts of the case, the judge asked McNeill if the prosecutor’s account was true.
“You are pleading guilty because you are guilty?” the judge asked.
“Yes,” he answered in a barely audible voice.
Hunt, who now lives in Pembroke, believes McNeill should have received more prison time, but she wanted the court proceedings to be over.
“I was at the end of my rope,” she said. “I needed some justice for my daughter.”
McNeill’s conviction, she hopes, will send a message to other drug dealers: If you cause another person’s fatal overdose, your life may be over, too.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.