2 Alleged Heroin Dealers Charged With Drug-Induced Homicide

JOLIET, Ill. (STMW) -- Will County authorities are charging two alleged dope dealers with drug-induced homicide stemming from separate fatal heroin overdoses in the fall.

Authorities say Emerson D. Harris, 24, and Maximilian Kalemba, 21, of southwest suburban Homer Glen, sold drugs to different people that ultimately led to their deaths.

Police were called to a Wendy's on Sept. 19, where 28-year-old Chad D. Conley was found lying in the parking lot. Conley, of Bolingbrook, was taken to Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later, Lt. Mike Rompa said.

Police said Harris sold Conley the drugs that ended up killing him. Toxicology tests later showed Conley died from an opiate — of which heroin is one — and alcohol intoxication.

Will County sheriff's police said Kalemba and Randall A. Witte, 23, of Orland Park, took heroin around 3 p.m. Oct. 26 in Kalemba's garage at 12224 W. Lakeview Trail before Kalemba and his relatives left to attend a wedding. According to reports, Kalemba told detectives he regularly collects money from his friends to buy heroin in Chicago.

Witte was gone when the family returned home after midnight, but Kalemba found his friend's body in some bushes around 11 a.m. when he let the family dog outside, police said.

Sheriff's police questioned Kalemba. They searched his house and found syringes and baggies with heroin residue, according to reports. Toxicology results showed Witte also died from opiate intoxication, Chief Deputy Coroner Bob Brencewski said. Witte was a member of the National Honor Society at Joliet Junior College.

Kalemba's arrest warrant has $400,000 bail.

On Nov. 27, 2009, Kalemba threatened his elderly grandparents with kitchen knives while demanding money for heroin, according to court records. The next day Kalemba squirted shampoo into his wheelchair-bound grandfather's eyes to steal the pain medication he kept in his pockets to prevent it from falling into his grandson's hands. Kalemba was charged with robbery and aggravated assault.

Deputy Chief Ken Kaupas said sheriff's police were aware of Kalemba's whereabouts and planned to take him into custody Monday evening.

Conley was married with two sons and enjoyed fishing and the Chicago White Sox. His mother, Cindy Negrette, said Monday police had informed her of the warrant and she was "very glad no one will be able to buy from (Harris) again."

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)