McHenry man charged with delivering fatal fentanyl dose loses in attempt to dismiss to case

A McHenry man charged with drug-induced homicide has lost in his attempt to have his case dismissed after claiming authorities wrongly identified him in a surveillance video.

John Maly, 29, who has been held in custody at McHenry County Jail on $500,000 bail since March 10, 2021, is accused of delivering a fatal dose of fentanyl to Tyler D. Martin of McHenry.

Maly’s attorney, McHenry County Special Public Defender Kevin Hanzel, argued that McCounty Sheriff’s Detective Eric Lee could not have accurately identified Maly in a blurry video obtained from a McDonald’s in Chicago.

Hanzel said Lee’s testimony in front of the grand jury was “misleading” and “taint[ed]” jurors, who then indicted Maly.

Lee testified that the video shows that at 10 p.m., Oct. 23, 2020, Maly was in the front passenger seat of a vehicle at the McDonald’s, and that he got out of the vehicle and walked toward a residential area where he allegedly bought fentanyl.

According to Lee, the video, played in court during Maly’s Thursday hearing, also shows a woman driving believed to be Maly’s co-defendant Casey Johann, 26, of Hebron.

And, although not clearly visible in the video but for seeing movement, Lee said Martin is in the backseat.

Martin was found dead in his apartment the next day. His death was caused by fentanyl poisoning, according to the coroner’s report.

Hanzel argued the video is blurry and does not clearly identify Maly. The public defender said the video was ”key” and the “ultimate evidence” that lead to Maly’s indictment.

However, Lee said he drew his conclusion of who was in the vehicle based on the “totality” of his investigation.

That investigation also included cellphone pings off of cellular towers, I-PASS records and text messages between Maly and Martin the day before discussing “going to the city” and buying “jabs.”

“Jabs” refers to amounts of heroin and fentanyl packaged for sale in baggies, Lee explained.

Hanzel said Martin had other text conversations on his phone from the day before, but the prosecutor said those were insignificant. One was regarding a grocery pick up and the other was about lunch plans.

Hanzel also told Judge Tiffany Davis that Johann, who during the investigation initially corroborated what was seen in the video, has since provided an affidavit denying her statements. In May she was charged with perjury.

Johann, who has a child with Maly, was charged with drug-induced homicide and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance in connection with Martin’s death. In 2021, she pleaded guilty to an amended charge of attempted drug-induced homicide and received probation.

She later violated her probation by testing positive for illegal drugs and not receiving a substance abuse evaluation. She was then re-sentenced to prison.

Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Miller said Lee was “not misleading” and did not give “false interpretation” to the grand jury.

The case “should go to trial and be determined by a jury or a judge. Let them draw the conclusion,” Miller said.

“[Lee] gave a summary of facts to the grand jury to support the indictment,” Miller said.

Davis agreed with the prosecutor and said she found Lee to be credible and that he was “not misleading to the grand jury.”

“Court finds there is sufficient evidence connecting the defendant to the offense for which he was indicted,” Davis said.

At Maly’s insistence, Davis set a jury trial date of Dec. 11.

Last month, Maly attempted to be released from the county jail without posting cash bond under the new SAFE-T Act, also called the Pretrial Fairness Act. His request was denied.

In denying his release, Davis found that Maly is a flight risk and a threat to a person or the community.

He has since filed a motion for an appellate public defender to appeal that decision which was granted, court records show.

Martin’s mother, Sandra Raiche, said of Maly’s attempt to have his case dismissed that he “is just grasping.”

“He has NO REMORSE nor does he want to take any responsibility,” she said in an email. “... Tyler deserves to be on this earth with his son and family!”

Raiche has said her son had struggled with a heroin addiction and had been clean at the time he died.. She said she doesn’t believe her son knew he was ingesting fentanyl that night. He was 29.

In an online obituary Martin is described as “a loving son, brother, uncle and a doting father.”

“He was a beautiful person who encountered some struggles throughout his life,” his family wrote. “He showed great strength through his suffering and although his family loved him dearly, a cure was not to be.”