Overdose Death Leads To Homicide Charges For Hayward Man

SAWYER COUNTY — Charges of First Degree Reckless Homicide are filed against Jonathan Kakazu, of Hayward, WI, following an overdose death that occurred in August 2019 in Sawyer County.

These charges were filed following an investigation by the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Department into a suspected overdose death that occurred on August 27, 2019.

During the course of the investigation, Detectives submitted samples to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab that were obtained from the residence where the deceased was found. These samples tested positive for Heroin, Tramadol and Fentanyl.

Law Enforcement obtained a search warrant for the Facebook account belonging to the deceased. Content found in the Facebook account confirmed statements provided to Law Enforcement that Jonathan Kakazu had provided the deceased with controlled substances during the hours prior to the death.

An autopsy was conducted, confirming the presence of Heroin, Tramadol, and Fentanyl in the blood samples obtained from the deceased.

A forensic review of the contents of Kakazu’s phone confirmed the contact that he had with the deceased in the hours prior to the death. In addition, Law Enforcement reviewed dozens of conversations from Kakazu’s phone in which he was discussing the sale of controlled substances with various people.

If convicted of the charge as filed, Kakazu faces a possible maximum sentence of 40 years confinement in Prison.

Kakazu was arrested on September 4, 2019 regarding this case and appeared in Sawyer County Circuit Court on a felony warrant for charges of Class C Felony Manufacture/Deliver Heroin(>50g), Conspiracy to Commit filed in June of 2018 in a separate case. The warrant had been issued for Kakazu in May 2019, and circuit court records indicate that at a hearing on September 6, 2019, Kakazu was placed on a $50,000 cash bond. He is scheduled to appear again later in October 2019 regarding both of his criminal cases.

Pursuant to the direction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as found in Supreme Court Rule 20:3.6, Trial Publicly, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.