Jury can't decide if EHT man responsible for drug-related death

A jury was unable to reach a verdict in Atlantic County's first strict-liability case to go to trial. Daniel Parrish, 42, denied he sold the heroin-fentanyl mix that killed 27-year-old Joseph Robinson on Dec. 10, 2016. But a man who said he regularly bought from him tesified that Robinson paid for five bags that Parrish provided. Mike Reed said he and Robinson each did a bag together, and then Robinson went home with the three remaining bags. He was later found dead by his girlfriend in the Egg Harbor Township home he shared with his grandfather. Parrish was charged with homicide under the strict-liability statute that finds those who sell drugs responsible for the deaths it causes. But the four men and eight women tasked with reaching a verdict were unable to do so Monday. "We have a verdict on four counts," the jurors said in a note sent to Superior Court Judge Donna Taylor, after she sent them back for another go at deliberations. "The remaining five counts are at an impasse. Extra time will not change our decision." The jury did find Parrish guilty on all four possession charges in the nine-count indictment. But they hung on charges of distribution. Defense attorney Nellie Marquez said she believed that Parrish's testimony helped his case. [video width="720" height="480" mp4="https://accessglobal.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/breakingac/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/parrish.mp4"][/video] On the stand, Parrish said he was a drug addict who purchased heroin with his brother, but that he had not sold drugs since his arrest in 2012. He had been out just 10 months when he was arrested Dec. 13, 2016, three days after Robinson's death. Investigators found 178 packets in his Egg Harbor Township home containing the same heroin-fentanyl mix — labeled "Head Games" — that was found next to Robinson, according to the charges. Parrish is scheduled to be sentenced on the drug charges Dec. 7. No decision has been announced on the five remaining charges. The prosecutor could decide to retry them or try to reach a plea agreement.