Bridgeport Man Sold Heroin to Overdose Victim: Feds

DARRYCK NORRIS, 23, of Bridgeport, is behind bars and facing federal charges for selling heroin that killed a 37-year-old man in Milford last October. According to a criminal complaint unsealed yesterday, NORRIS distributed the deadly dose just hours before the victim was found slumped and unresponsive in a living room, already beyond saving.

At 8:49 p.m. on October 27, 2016, police and emergency crews rushed to a Milford residence, where they found the man unresponsive. Two doses of Narcan were pumped into his system—nothing worked. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers swept the area and recovered four empty baggies and one still packed with suspected heroin, all stamped with the same brand insignia—a signature link investigators would soon exploit.

The victim’s iPhone became a critical piece of evidence. Text messages showed he had arranged to buy heroin from DARRYCK NORRIS earlier that day. Further analysis and witness statements revealed a months-long supply chain: the overdose victim had been buying drugs directly from NORRIS for an extended period, feeding a dependency that ended in death.

On November 1, 2016, federal and local agents moved in. A controlled buy was conducted in Bridgeport, where they purchased heroin from NORRIS. The stamp on the bags matched those found near the victim’s body—law enforcement now had a direct forensic and digital trail tying NORRIS to the fatal distribution.

NORRIS appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam and was released into a residential drug treatment program, raising eyebrows among law enforcement sources familiar with the severity of the charge. He is currently free pending further proceedings, though the charge of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, heroin carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

This case is being pursued by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport Resident Office, the DEA’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad, and the Milford and Bridgeport Police Departments. U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly emphasized that the complaint is not evidence of guilt—NORRIS is presumed innocent until proven guilty—but the paper trail, digital evidence, and matching drug stamp paint a damning picture in Connecticut’s ongoing battle against fatal opioid distribution.

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