Man gave pregnant girlfriend fentanyl, Sarasota cops say. Mother and baby are dead, and he’s in jail

A 23-year-old Sarasota man has been charged with two counts of manslaughter in the deaths of his girlfriend and their unborn child after he gave the woman drugs he purchased in Bradenton, according to the Sarasota Police Department.

Police say Casey Swart was located by officers on Monday pacing around a residence in the 300 block of Osprey Avenue. He stated in their presence, “Oh my God. I can’t believe it. Oh my God. I went too far,” police said.

The victim, Swart’s girlfriend who was nine months pregnant, was lying on the floor with a roommate providing CPR. The woman and her unborn child were taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital where they both died.

Detectives interviewed the roommate later that night and he told police he saw Swart leave the home earlier in the evening and then return around 7 p.m. He told police he saw Swart enter his bedroom where his girlfriend was and come out a little later, slamming the door behind him.

The roommate asked if everything was OK, but Swart did not respond, according to the report.

Another person arrived to the residence and that is when the girlfriend was found unresponsive on the bedroom floor, police say.

Swart was interviewed on Tuesday and said he went to Bradenton the night before to get some pain pills for his girlfriend because she, “was nagging (him) because she was in pain from her pregnancy,” the report states.

Swart claims he bought one pill, ingested half for himself and gave the other half to his girlfriend, the report states. Swart told police the next thing he knew, his girlfriend was on the floor.

The person who drove Swart to Bradenton to buy drugs disputes that claim, according to the report.

That person told detectives that he didn’t have access to pain pills and that Swart asked him where to get fentanyl, according to the report.

They pair purchased the fentanyl. The witness told detectives that Swart said it was for his own personal use and that he was unaware that Swart was buying it for his pregnant girlfriend.

The witness told detectives that Swart smoked half of the fentanyl on the way home and police say he gave the rest to his girlfriend, which caused the overdose and subsequent death of her and the unborn baby.

A second interview was conducted with Swart on Tuesday and following that interview, Swart was arrested and booked into the Sarasota County jail on a charge of manslaughter and one count of manslaughter/killing of an unborn child by injurty to the mother..

Police say additional charges are possible pending the outcome of the toxicology report and a cause of death determination from the medical examiner’s office.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call Detective Maria Llovia at 941-263-6836 or Crime Stoppers at 942-366-TIPS.

This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 12:58 PM.