20-Year-Old Greendale Man Facing Homicide Charges Following Overdose, Police Say

Investigators who have building a case against a 20-year-old Greendale man for nearly eight months believe he is responsible for the overdose death of his 56-year-old uncle who died in the dorms at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in December.

Tyler James Schmidt was charged with first degree reckless homicide in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on July 6, after police say he bought the heroin Timothy Stanczyk injected Dec. 3, at Sandburg Halls on the UWM campus.

Stanczyk died of a drug overdose.

According to court documents, Stanczyk and a third man visited Schmidt, a UWM student and resident at Sandburg Hall, back in December. The third man told police he and Schmidt went out and purchased heroin earlier that evening from a dealer Schmidt knew on the north side of Milwaukee. They returned to the dorm and injected the heroin, according to court documents.

Stanczyk then asked Schmidt if he could contact another dealer so he could purchase some cocaine. When Schmidt was unable to do so, Stanczyk asked if they could meet up with his heroin dealer again and purchase more of that drug.

The trio went to purchase more heroin from Schmidt’s dealer, and returned to the dorms where they injected it. After Stanczyk fell to the floor, Schmidt reportedly went to find him some Suboxone, a drug used to counteract a heroin overdose. According to the criminal complaint, Schmidt and another man gave Schmidt’s uncle the Suboxone and went out to have a cigarette, assuming by the time they returned it would kick in.

It never did, and Stanczyk was pronounced dead later that evening.

Drug paraphernalia was found in Schmidt’s room, and used syringes were found in the dorm’s garbage dumpster where a witness told police Schmidt disposed of them, according to court documents.

Surveillance footage and phone records back up the statements provided by the third man involved, police say.

If convicted, Schmidt faces a maximum of 40 years of imprisonment, $100,000 in fines or both. He is due back in court for his arraignment Sept. 6.