CHICORA — A third person has been charged in the 2015 fatal overdose of a Donegal Township man.

Justin O. Newman, 28, of Brady Township is accused of buying fentanyl-laced heroin that led to the death of 33-year-old Joshua Lee Stitt.

A preliminary hearing for Newman on charges including drug delivery resulting in death is set for May 30 at the office of District Judge Lewis Stoughton in Chicora.

That top count is the equivalent of third-degree murder under state law, and carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office on Friday filed its latest case in Stitt's death.

Along with the most serious charge, Stoughton arraigned Newman on two other felonies — delivery and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

Additionally, he is charged with misdemeanor drug possession.

The defendant is being held in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail.

Authorities previously arrested two others — Julia L. Zaludek, 26, of Fenelton and William C. Thomas III, 32, formerly of Homestead, Allegheny County — in connection with Stitt's death.

Zaludek in court documents was identified as Newman's girlfriend. Thomas was her alleged dealer.

The state attorney general's office is prosecuting the case since Zaludek's mother, Bonnie Zaludek, works for the Butler County District Attorney's Office.

Stitt, a bricklayer and father of a then-5-year-old son, died Sept. 16, 2015, after he injected heroin at his home on Trimbur Road. He died in an ambulance on the way to Butler Memorial Hospital.

Toxicology tests later showed the heroin, unbeknownst to Stitt, was mixed with the synthetic painkiller fentanyl, authorities said, which is known to heighten the dangers and potency of street drugs.

Zaludek told investigators that on the day before Stitt's death, she, Newman and Stitt drove in her car to Pittsburgh's Homestead section where she had previously arranged to meet with Thomas to buy 75 stamp bags of heroin for $400.

Accompanying the trio on the alleged drug buy outside a fast-food restaurant were Zaludek's and Stitt's young children.

At the restaurant parking lot, according to charging documents, Zaludek and Stitt handed money over to Newman for the drugs.

Newman got out of the vehicle and walked to Thomas' car nearby, authorities said. He allegedly gave the money to Thomas in exchange for the heroin.

“When the defendant returned to Zaludek's vehicle,” according to a narcotics agent's affidavit, “the defendant, Stitt and Zaludek divided the heroin amongst themselves.”

Investigators in July 2016 interviewed Thomas at the Allegheny County Jail. He acknowledged that he knew Newman and Zaludek, but he denied selling or giving the couple any drugs.

Zaludek on April 4 pleaded guilty to the involuntary manslaughter in her case. In exchange, court records showed, prosecutors withdrew the most serious charges, drug delivery resulting in death and criminal use of a communication facility.

She is to be sentenced June 29 in Butler County Court.

State police initially arrested her in April 2016, before the case was turned over to the attorney general's office. She has been free on bail since April 25, 2016.

Thomas, who was arrested Nov. 30, is currently awaiting trial on charges similar to Newman's.

He is being held in the State Correctional Institution at Greene County. Court records show he's serving a two- to four-year sentence stemming from his 2016 conviction for felony drug possession in Allegheny County.