Waukesha - A 49-year-old Waukesha man was charged Friday with providing a woman with a prescription drug that police say killed her at his apartment last year.
Leon Thomas, who is imprisoned at the Dodge Correctional Institute, is charged in a complaint with one count of first-degree reckless homicide, repeater, and with one count of maintaining a drug trafficking place, subsequent offense.
If convicted of both charges, he faces up to 53 1/2 years in prison.
According to the complaint, the victim, 21-year-old Holly C. Reidy, visited Thomas at his apartment on Feb. 18, 2010.
Thomas, the complaint says, provided Reidy with a patch containing fentanyl, a narcotic pain reliever. The patch was ripped apart and Reidy swallowed the gel.
Police responding to a report of an overdose found Thomas trying to resuscitate Reidy.
Reidy, who was not breathing and did not have a pulse when rescue workers arrived, died three days later at Waukesha Memorial Hospital.