A New Castle man is headed for trial on charges he provided a drug cocktail that killed a young Butler mother last year.

But the defendant, 25-year-old Anthony David Michael, claimed what he sold Holley Haugh was powdered makeup that looked like heroin, a Butler police detective testified at a preliminary hearing Monday.

District Judge William Fullerton found there was sufficient evidence to hold Michael on a charge of drug delivery resulting in death.

The charge is a first-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison — the equivalent of third-degree murder under state law.

Michael is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on a probation violation in an unrelated case. His bail in the Butler County case is $50,000.

The police investigation began July 27, 2018, when Haugh was found dead at a man's apartment on the 400 block of West New Castle Street. The tenant called 911 to report finding her in a bed dead of a possible overdose.

An autopsy was performed that day, and the cause of death was subsequently determined to be “combined drug toxicity of morphine, fentanyl, sertraline and diphenhydramine,” Detective Lt. David Villotti testified.

Sertraline is the generic name of the antidepressant Zoloft and diphenhydramine is an over-the-counter antihistamine.

“The coroner told us that they did find track marks between her toes,” Villotti said.

Haugh was the mother of a 1-year-old son at the time of her death. She also was engaged to be married and was pursuing an emergency services degree at Butler County Community College.

During the investigation, Villotti said, Haugh's mother and brother contacted police with information about where Haugh “had gotten the drugs that she overdosed on.”

Police eventually spoke to a friend of Haugh's, a woman, who they believed was with Haugh when she bought the drugs from Michael around 2 p.m. July 26, 2018, outside a Butler Township restaurant/bar.

The friend thought Haugh was going to buy marijuana. She realized that wasn't the case, Villotti testified, when the defendant handed Haugh a “red folded up piece of paper.”

The friend did not know the defendant before that night, but she subsequently identified him from a police photo lineup.

“(The friend) said Holley then went down to the apartment where she was found, gave (the drugs) to the gentleman who lives in that apartment and then drove (the friend) home,” Villotti said.

Haugh was supposed to return to the apartment after dropping off her friend.

On cross-examination by Michael's attorney, Stanley Booker of New Castle, Villotti said the tenant told police that he had last seen Haugh at 11 p.m. on July 26.

He said he had gone to a friend's house “to smoke weed,” the detective testified. The tenant denied giving Haugh any drugs.

But Villotti told Booker that Haugh had sent text messages to the tenant about “going to his place and doing drugs.”

“Do you have evidence that she was partying that night with a bunch of people and they were using a multitude of drugs?” Booker asked.

“The apartment was clean by the time we got there (around 1:10 p.m. July 27),” Villotti said. “If there was a party, they cleaned it up.”

He said the tenant has not been charged.

Villotti said he and another detective interviewed Michael on Jan. 21 at the Lawrence County Jail, where he was being held on unrelated charges.

“The defendant told us he did sell Holley a powdered substance,” Villotti said, “but he told us it was not heroin. He said he got powdered makeup and wrapped it and sold it to her as heroin.”

He said he did that, according to court documents, because he knew Holley was a “good girl” and didn't do drugs, so he didn't want to sell her “real heroin.”

Villotti said that he eventually forwarded the findings of his investigation to the district attorney's office, which recommended charging Michael.

Booker asked Fullerton to dismiss the case.

“There is no evidence that the stuff in her system came from my client,” he said.

He also made a point of Haugh giving the substance she allegedly obtained from Michael to the tenant at the apartment.

“It's out of her possession,” Booker said. “Almost 24 hours later, she's found in bed at the (tenant's) apartment. What we're missing is any evidence that she used that substance that my client gave her.”

He argued, “The delivery, if it happened at all, it happened from (the tenant) to (Haugh), as opposed to my client.”

But Fullerton bound the case over for court.

“I think that any number of people in that chain of delivery,” Fullerton said, “could be charged with drug delivery resulting in death.”