Stuart Introduces Legislation to Help Families Prosecute Out-of-State Drug Dealers

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – In response to a tragic local drug overdose case that took the life of a local, state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, introduced legislation that would give authorities the ability to prosecute out-of-state drug dealers for providing drugs to someone who died from them in Illinois.

“Senate Bill 639, the Evan Rushing Law, fixes a legal loophole that blocks law enforcement from prosecuting a drug dealer for a drug-induced homicide simply because the dealer was located across the river in St. Louis,” Stuart said. “I want to give our law enforcement all the tools they need to prosecute criminals that hurt our children, and families the relief of knowing a criminal will not get away with their crime.”

Stuart’s legislation, which passed committee Thursday, would expand the offense of drug-induced homicide to include delivery of a controlled substance in another state which resulted in the death that occurred in Illinois. In a recent case Evan Rushing, a young man from Glen Carbon, was killed when he overdosed from drugs bought from a dealer in St. Louis. The district attorney was not able to charge the drug dealer with drug-induced homicide because

“We must protect our community and keep drug dealers away from our homes and our children’s schools,” Stuart said. “This bill closes a loophole so criminals cannot get off the hook simply because they committed a crime across a state border.”