Joseph Crumpler, a 30-year-old man, died on January 15, 2023, from a drug overdose in the North Linden neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. On the morning of his death, police received a report of a drug overdose at the 2900 block of Azelda Avenue. When officers arrived at the scene, they found Crumpler suffering from an apparent overdose. He was transported to Riverside Methodist Hospital in critical condition and was later pronounced dead.
The coroner's office ruled the manner of death as an accident caused by a drug overdose, with fentanyl and alcohol found in his system.
Rebecca Auborn, a 32-year-old woman, was arrested and charged with murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, corrupting another with drugs, trafficking in drugs, and illegal manufacture of drugs or cultivation of marijuana. Auborn admitted to supplying Crumpler with drugs that caused his death and stealing from him while he was incapacitated. She was arrested on August 26, 2023, and has been held in the Franklin County Jail since then. Auborn has entered a not guilty plea to all charges against her and is currently scheduled for trial on November 14, 2023, although the trial date is likely to be moved.
The case came to light after the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force received information that a woman was meeting men for sex in northeast Columbus, then dosing the "Johns" with drugs to steal their possessions. Detectives connected Auborn to several overdoses and robberies beginning in December 2022. Four men, including Crumpler, died after Auborn gave them fentanyl without their knowledge to rob them. The other victims were Robert Snoke, 54, Wayne Akin, 64, and Guy Renda, 42. The Franklin County Coroner's Office released the autopsies and other records related to the four men, indicating that all four had fentanyl in their systems. The reports from the coroner's office indicate that Crumpler was found at his home and pronounced dead at Riverside Methodist Hospital. Auborn's indictment includes charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, corrupting another with drugs, tampering with evidence, and drug trafficking.
