A Rochester woman wanted in connection with the drug death of a man she knew appeared Thursday in Clark County Superior Court.
Brooke M. Betts, 26, faces a charge of controlled substance homicide in the November death of Leif E. Jensen, 33, at a Vancouver Motel 6.
Court records state that Betts picked up Jensen at Portland International Airport on Nov. 7, after he flew in from California, and took him to the motel at 221 N. Chkalov Drive.
Jensen gave Betts money to purchase heroin and crystal methamphetamine from a local drug dealer with whom she had met up at a nearby store, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Jensen reportedly injected himself first with heroin and then with a mixture of both drugs over the course of the night, court documents said.
Betts told police that she fell asleep in the early morning hours of Nov. 8 and woke up about 10 a.m. “to find Jensen in an unnatural position on the ground with vomit on the floor,” the affidavit states. She told police that he was breathing “really weird” and tried to wake him up but was unsuccessful, court records show.
She left Jensen in the room a couple of times while she went to a nearby store, court records said. Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said Thursday that Betts left Jensen on the floor of the motel room in distress for five to six hours while she used his debit card to shop.
When Betts returned to the room the last time, she called 911 after discovering that Jensen was not breathing, the affidavit states. Vancouver police and firefighters responded and pronounced Jensen dead at the scene.
The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Jensen’s death was an accident and that he died from multiple drug intoxication, according to court records.
On Thursday, Judge David Gregerson appointed Betts an attorney and set bail at $60,000.
She asked if the bail could be lowered, “because I had no idea that anything was wrong,” she said.
Betts will be arraigned April 5.
