WOODSTOCK — A 32-year-old White River Junction woman has pleaded guilty to selling the narcotics that resulted in the overdose death of a 26-year-old Hartford mother of two in 2018.
Victoria Thompson was sentenced to one to five years in state prison, all suspended but 135 days, with a six-year term of probation, on Nov. 26 in Windsor County Superior Court, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office said in a news release last week.
Thompson received credit for time already served and is no longer incarcerated. She is currently on probation and under the supervision of Morrisville Probation & Parole, according to Vermont Department of Corrections records.
The probation terms require Thompson to “successfully complete a residential drug recovery program,” which subjects her to a curfew and requires her to obey residential and association restrictions. She also must submit to random drug testing and follow any recommended treatment for substance abuse and risk reduction issues, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office said.
Thompson is further ordered to perform community service and pursue either employment or a course of study or training.
The case dates back more than seven years to the overdose death of Nikki Martin, whose then 5-year-old and 1-year-old daughters found her unresponsive on the bathroom floor of their Twin Pines apartment on Bugbee Street in Hartford on April 3, 2018, according to court documents.
Asked about the unusually long length of time it took to prosecute the case, the state Attorney General’s Office said via email on Wednesday that death resulting cases “are inherently challenging to investigate and prosecute, and, in this instance, prosecution was further slowed by a global pandemic and other contributing factors, including the defendant’s absence from the state of Vermont.”
“This resolution — where the defendant has taken responsibility for her actions — will never fully result in justice for the victim or her family. It does, however, provide the defendant with an opportunity to engage in treatment and, in turn, contribute to a safer community. Should she fail to do so, she faces the possibility of extended incarceration,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
An attorney for Thompson did not respond to a request for comment by deadline on Wednesday.
After they couldn’t “wake up” their mother, Martin’s daughters went to the neighbor’s apartment for help. When the neighbor went into Martin’s apartment she found Martin dead on the bathroom floor and a syringe in the sink, a police affidavit prepared by then-Hartford police officer Kristinnah Adams in support of the charges detailed.
A forensic examination of Martin’s phone showed test message exchanges between Martin and a suspect identified to be Thompson discussing arrangements for Martin to buy heroin from Thompson, the affidavit outlined.
Martin was aware of the risk of overdosing, based on texts she exchanged with a male friend in the hours before she died, which were cited in the police affidavit.
After Thompson had dropped off two “bindles” of suspected heroin to Martin at around 8:30 p.m. on the evening of April 2, 2018, she texted a male friend and said that “v” advised that “I should do them both or I will be disappointed. So I’m just giving you a heads up so I feel safer.”
The male friend texted Martin back, asking if she wanted to hold off on shooting up until he dropped off some things first so he could be with her.
“no, it’s ok, ty though,” Martin replied.
Thirty-two minutes later the male friend texted Martin again to ask “how you feeling.” He did not receive an immediate response and 23 minutes later he tried again, texting “??”. Four minutes later, he wrote: “checking on u hunny making sure that went ok.”
After 13 more minutes with no response, the male friend texted a fifth time, “Hey checking on you hoping your ok.”
Martin died sometime between 8:36 p.m. and 9 p.m., on April 2, 2018, police estimated. She had struggled with drug addiction over the years and had alternating years of being sober and using again, a friend told police during their investigation.
Prior to Martin’s death, both she and Thompson worked at the restaurant Trail Break Taps and Tacos in White River Junction, the affidavit said.
Thompson has a history of drug offenses and is an overdose victim herself, police said.
In 2012, Thompson, then 18, was charged, along with two other Hartford residents, with conspiracy to violate the drug law in Holyoke, Mass.
The affidavit also noted that Thompson overdosed on heroin at a Hartford restaurant in January 2018, and was revived after CPR and the overdose reversal medication known by the brand name Narcan.
Then in 2021, at 28, she and a Springfield, Vt., man were charged with drug trafficking after 80 grams of narcotics were found in their vehicle when they were caught speeding at 70 mph in a 35 mph zone at 2 a.m. in Greenfield, Mass.
And in 2023, then 30, she was arrested on an active arrest warrant for violating conditions of release on a fentanyl possession charge after she was again caught speeding, this time in Weathersfield.