Shawn Nicol, 23, of 909 Comstock Ave., was charged with two felony counts Monday after eight-and-a-half ounces of cocaine was found in his residence. The cocaine was found after Nicol brought a friend to the hospital where she was pronounced dead as the result of an apparent drug overdose, said Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse Police Department.

Nicol and his friend of about a month, Nora Mazza, partied together Saturday night at an undetermined location and then returned together to Nicol’s apartment on Comstock Avenue. Mazza decided to spend the night and the two went to sleep early Sunday morning, Connellan said. Nicol checked on Mazza the next day, but thought she was sleeping. When Nicol checked on her later that night, she was unresponsive, Connellan said.

Nicol called a friend with a car to help transport Mazza to University Hospital late Sunday night, where doctors in the emergency room determined that she had been dead for several hours of what appeared to be a drug overdose, Connellan said.

At this point, Onondaga County Medical Examiner Mary Jumbelic has not determined the cause of death.

‘The cause and manner of death are pending further investigation,’ she said.

Jumbelic said the final determination will not be made for several weeks.

‘He thought she was sleeping the whole time, and when he found her dead, he did not want to call the police to the house, so he called a friend to transport the body to the hospital,’ Connellan said.

After Mazza was pronounced dead, officers followed typical procedure by going to Nicol’s residence looking for both Mazza’s identification and the location where the death took place, Connellan said.

While conducting a search at the residence, officers found about eight-and-a-half ounces of cocaine, as well as scales and means of packaging the material, he said.

Nicol was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, an A1 felony that carries a penalty of up to 25 years in prison if convicted, and intent to distribute a controlled substance, an A3 felony, Connellan said.

At this point, Nicol is not facing further charges stemming from Mazza’s death because officers believe it was an accidental overdose with no foul play involved other than the illegal drugs, Connellan said.

Even though Nicol lived close to the Syracuse University campus, he was never a student nor ever employed by the university, said SU spokesman Kevin Morrow. Mazza did not have a connection to SU either.

Though Nicol himself does not have a connection to SU, three of his roommates are State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students and one is an SU student, Morrow said.

Connellan said that these students living with Nicol are not facing any charges, as officers believe Nicol was the sole person in possession of the cocaine.

Published on November 4, 2003 at 12:00 pm