Kidd Pleads Not Guilty to Homicide Charge, Remains in Jail on $500,000 Bail

The first person believed to be charged with drug-induced homicide in Kendall County remains in jail, and Monday pleaded not guilty to charge, according to State’s Attorney Eric Weis.

Weis said Jason Kidd, formerly of Oswego, remains in jail on $500,000 bail and will again appear in court June 22 at 9 a.m. for a pretrial status hearing.

 Kidd, 36, was taken into custody at about 12:30 p.m. May 9 at his home in the 0-99 block of Margarets Lane, Aurora, and charged with the Class X felony.

Weis has said he was "about 99 percent positive" Kidd was the first person charged with drug-induced homicide in Kendall County. The charge targets those who sell, hand or otherwise transfer controlled substances to someone who later dies after ingesting any amount of that substance.

Oswego Police responded to a death investigation at about 6:30 a.m. March 7, 2010, at the home Kidd then shared with Merrideth Castro, 36, in the 100 block of Canterbury Court. Castro was found unresponsive and pronounced dead on the scene.

An investigation revealed that prior to her death, Castro had taken cocaine purchased by Kidd, the release said. Kidd delivered the cocaine to Castro and ingested the drug with her, Weis said. She was voluntarily taking cocaine, Weis said.

An autopsy and toxicology test revealed that she died from an overdose of cocaine and opiate.

If convicted, Kidd faces up to 30 years in prison.