An 18-year-old man died of an overdose in Southington in the spring of 2025, and now, more than a year later, a woman has been arrested and charged in connection with his death. Southington police identified her as Phoebe Allen, who was located in New Britain and taken into custody on Thursday.
Southington police responded to an address in town to investigate the man's death on April 29, 2025, though accounts of the exact time differ. According to WTNH, officers arrived around 12:15 p.m. that day to what was described as an “untimely” death. Patch reported the response came at about 12:18 p.m., while NBC Connecticut put the time at roughly 12:18 a.m. Police did not identify the 18-year-old man who died.
Medical Examiner Points to Drug Combination
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the man's death was caused by acute intoxication from the combined effects of methamphetamine and benzodiazepines, NBC Connecticut reported. After detectives processed the scene, the department's Special Investigations Unit took over the case, the station noted.
That investigation eventually led detectives to seek an arrest warrant for Allen. Reports differ on her age: WTNH identified her as 25, while NBC Connecticut and Patch both listed her as 21. Southington police obtained an arrest warrant charging her with second-degree manslaughter.
Arrest Comes More Than a Year Later
Detectives found Allen in New Britain and took her into custody on Thursday, per the same account from Patch. She was held on a court-set $100,000 bond and scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on Friday. Police have not provided additional information about what investigators allege Allen did that led to the manslaughter charge, the outlet reported.
The case adds to a string of Connecticut drug-related prosecutions even as the state's overall overdose numbers have been trending downward. Connecticut overdose deaths fell 45% since 2021, according to a report from CT Insider. The Connecticut Department of Public Health maintains a dashboard tracking overdose death data, including demographic, geographic, and drug-type information, from 2015 through 2025.
