Duluth man charged with murder in fatal cocaine overdose case

A cocaine sale that prosecutors say ended in death has been elevated to a homicide case in Duluth, where William Redding, 30, now faces third-degree murder and fifth-degree drug possession after investigators linked him to the cocaine that killed Kayla Marie Roettger, 36. In Minnesota, third-degree murder can carry a sentence of up to 25 years.

The charge signals more than a routine overdose investigation. Under state law, third-degree murder covers a death caused by an act “eminently dangerous to others” that shows a depraved mind, without regard for human life. In this case, Duluth police and prosecutors say the key question was not simply who used the drug, but who supplied it and what investigators could prove about the chain leading to Roettger’s death.

According to the criminal complaint, Roettger’s boyfriend told police he bought the cocaine from Redding a day before Roettger died on Feb. 1, 2026. That account became a central piece of the case as investigators worked to trace the drugs back to a local seller. The charge was filed Thursday, and the case now puts a sharp legal focus on how a fatal overdose can become a homicide prosecution when authorities believe the supply line can be tied to one person.

Roettger’s obituary adds to the human weight of the case. She was born in Brainerd on May 24, 1989, graduated from Denfeld in 2007 and was the proud mother of three children. She lived most of her life in Duluth and died unexpectedly on Feb. 1, leaving family members to confront a loss that court records now place at the center of a criminal case.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety says the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension tracks overdoses, drug-related deaths and drug-related crimes through its Drug Crimes and Overdose Dashboard, underscoring how state and local authorities are treating overdose deaths as both a public-health emergency and an enforcement issue. In the Northland, the Redding case fits a pattern prosecutors have used before, including earlier overdose-related murder prosecutions in Duluth and across Minnesota when investigators believed the facts supported a homicide charge.

For St. Louis County, the case is a reminder that a single drug sale can carry consequences far beyond possession or distribution. When investigators can connect a fatal dose to a named suspect, the legal response can move from overdose review to murder charge, with a sentence measured in decades rather than days.