CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Charleston man was sentenced to up to 11 years in prison in the death overdose death of a Charleston woman in 2019.
Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey sentenced William Leo Campbell to a determinant term of seven years in prison for a felony drug delivery resulting in death charge and 1 to 4 years in prison for felony failure to render aid.
Campbell was accused of using methamphetamine with Kayla Wheeler in 2019 along Wertz Avenue and then not getting her aid when she overdosed. He pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2019.
“I’m truly sorry what happened to Kayla, she was a good dear friend of mine,” Campbell said to the virtual courtroom Thursday.
“There is not a day that I do not wake up and think about what happened, anything I could have done to change the situation and make the outcome different.”
In the days following the death, Campbell said he didn’t call 911 because he believed he had an active warrant for his arrest, according to a criminal complaint.
The complaint further said that Campbell admitted he bought the meth that he and Wheeler used on the West Side of Charleston. Campbell said he got rid of it after leaving Wertz Avenue.
Wheeler’s mother addressed the courtroom Thursday before he was sentenced.
“Billy you have ruined my life. You took my rock away from me. My family is so emotionally disrupted. We are all emotionally suffering for the rest of our lives,” she said.
“My daughter was very special, she was a good girl and innocent. She didn’t start misbehaving until she got in her 20’s but she was a very special girl. You took something very special away.”
Campbell has already been behind bars for underlying charges of distributing methamphetamine. He was sentenced on Sept. 30, 2019 to one to five years. The terms will run all consecutively.
“I’m really trying to get my life back together,” Campbell said. “I’m doing really well at this program, looking into getting into a recovery coach program once I get out. I’m trying to get my life back on track and be a productive model citizen.”