COURTHOUSE >> A Pottstown man delivered a fatal dose of methamphetamine and opioids to a Lower Pottsgrove man, left him to die in a hallway and then went shopping to Walmart, according to prosecutors.

Ronald Charles Purvis, 32, of the 300 block of East High Street, faces charges of drug delivery resulting in death, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, tampering with evidence, possession with intent to deliver controlled substances, possession of drug paraphernalia and obstructing the administration of law in connection with the March 30, 2017, overdose death of Kevin High, 29, of Lower Pottsgrove.

An autopsy determined High died of combined drug intoxication of fentanyl and methamphetamine, according to court papers.

“Rather than call 911, the defendant carried the overdosing man out into the hallway of the apartment building, went shopping and left him to die,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said on Monday. “Kevin High died from being poisoned by these deadly drugs provided to him by a dealer.”

Purvis was arraigned on the charges before District Court Judge Edward C. Kropp Sr., who set bail at $500,000. Purvis was unable to post bail and he was remanded to the county jail to await his Oct. 11 preliminary hearing before Kropp.

Purvis was the fifth person charged with drug delivery resulting in death in the county during 2017.

“I cannot say this enough, dealers peddling their poison should think twice about doing so in Montgomery County because if someone dies and we can prove it was from the drugs you provided to them, you are on the hook for homicide,” Steele warned.

An investigation began when Pottstown police were dispatched to an apartment building in the 300 block of East High Street for a report of an unconscious person and found High, deceased, lying at the bottom of a stairway, according to a criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Police Sergeant Michael J. Markovich and county Detective Gregory Pitchford.

Emergency responders determined High had been dead for over an hour.

The investigation determined High went to Purvis’ apartment during the late afternoon of March 29. At that time, Purvis allegedly gave High a bag, which usually contained heroin, and a metal container, which usually contained methamphetamine, and High ingested the contents of the bag and container, according to the criminal complaint.

Witnesses who had been in and out of Purvis’ apartment around the same time told detectives High immediately began acting differently. High began talking more slowly and then passed out and his breathing became irregular and there was a “weird sound, like a snorting kind of sound in the back of the throat,” according to the arrest affidavit.

Purvis allegedly attempted to take High’s pulse and even placed a blood pressure cuff on High as he sat on a couch. Another visitor to the apartment doused High with a glass of water and slapped him to try to wake him up, detectives said.

Purvis also placed an electric dog collar on High’s arm, neck and face. When Purvis allegedly shocked High with the dog collar witnesses saw High’s muscles “twitch” but High did not wake up, according to the criminal complaint.

While High was overdosing, Purvis asked a neighbor to help move High out of the apartment and they moved High into the hallway. Purvis, accompanied by two women, then “went shopping at the Walmart in Pottstown,” according to the criminal complaint.

When Purvis and the women returned to the apartment they noticed High was pale, had no pulse and was not breathing, according to the arrest affidavit. Purvis allegedly told the women they would call 911 but say that High had been up and moving around when they went to Walmart.

Detectives alleged Purvis also destroyed videotapes from cameras he had installed in his apartment in an attempt to cover up the crime and hinder the investigation.

If convicted of drug delivery resulting in death, Purvis could face a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.