STEVENS POINT (WAOW) - A Madison man accused in the heroin overdose death of a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student pleaded not guilty Monday to first-degree reckless homicide, according to online Portage County Court records.
Charlie Phillips-Moore, 21, entered the plea after a judge ruled prosecutors presented enough evidence during a preliminary hearing to justify the charge.
No trial date was immediately set.
Phillips-Moore is the second man charged in the death of Jordan Peterson, 22, more than a year ago.
Prosecutors say Phillips-Moore sold the heroin to a Hancock man who sold it to Peterson shortly before he died Nov. 17, 2013.
Erik Olsen, 27, is also charged with first-degree reckless homicide in Peterson's death. He has pleaded not guilty. A five-day trial is set to begin April 13.
Prosecutors say Olsen sold the heroin to Peterson the day he died. Peterson was found dead in his off-campus home by a roommate who told investigators that Peterson had a "heroin problem" and there was a needle next to his body, the criminal complaint said.
Peterson sent a text to Olsen, asking for $25 worth of some type of drug, but Olsen denied finding any drugs for Peterson, the complaint said.
About a month after Peterson died, Olsen told investigators he began buying heroin from Phillips-Moore, who went by the street name Chulo, in August 2013, the complaint said.
"Mr. Olsen said he was receiving heroin from Chulo 3-4 times a week," the complaint said. "Mr. Olsen said he received an average of 2 grams of heroin each time he purchased from Chulo."
Both Olsen, who is not a UWSP student, and Phillips-Moore are jailed on $100,000 cash bonds.