A Cave City man has been charged with manslaughter after an investigation was conducted by the Sharp County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the 16th Judicial Drug Task Force.
Sgt. Cody Bailey reported on the morning of October 28, the Sharp County Sheriff’s Office received a call from White River Medical Center at Batesville and reported LaShaun Terrell Starbuck brought 18-year-old Alyssa Hale to the emergency room, who was deceased.
Starbuck told Sharp County officers the female had been dumped in front of his entryway at 1405 Melon Drive in Cave City early that morning by unknown persons.
After getting permission to look through Starbuck’s phone that statement was quickly debunked, and a search of his residence proved he was lying regarding his involvement with Hale.
The 16th Judicial Drug Task Force was requested to assist due to the likelihood that Hale’s death was due to “pressed pills.”
DTF Investigators Cody Lee and Jimmy Logan, with the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program, conducted follow up interviews with individuals who were with Hale the night before she died. All said she appeared normal when she was taken to Starbuck’s home.
The investigators obtained search warrants for Starbuck’s phone and social media apps. Messages obtained showed Starbuck was regularly involved in the sale and distribution of pills.
Starbuck admitted that he and Hale had taken pills the night before her death and Starbuck’s drug test, when booked into jail, was positive for fentanyl.
The state medical examiner listed fentanyl toxicity as Hale’s cause of death.
The affidavit states, “In the early morning hours of October 28, 2021, Alyssa Hale was given pills by Starbuck that she believed to be Percocet but were instead fentanyl made to look like Percocet.”
Starbuck has been charged in Sharp County Circuit Court with manslaughter, which is a class C felony.
