LOCAL

Jacksonville woman jailed after man found dead in her apartment

Dan Scanlan

dscanlan@jacksonville.com

A 34-year-old Jacksonville woman is behind bars after a man was found dead Aug. 7 in her Sunbeam Road apartment after he had asked her to help him get some heroin, according to her initial arrest report.

Ashley Marie Urmanec was arrested Friday on a new warrant for first-degree murder, sale/delivery of fentanyl or heroin, and possession of cocaine, according to her arrest report. She had originally been arrested Aug. 8 on the heroin and cocaine charges and released on bail a few days later, jail records show.

She and a friend had called police after finding Mark Beskind, whose age was not provided, dead on her sofa just before 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7, the arrest report said.

Urmanec told detectives she had known Beskind for eight years, and he came to her house asking about drugs, according to the report. She left to get a friend and returned to find him asleep on the sofa. Urmanec and her friend went into the back bedroom to take a nap, then woke later to find Beskind had died.

Investigators found a piece of crack cocaine, three needles and a crack pipe in a backpack Urmanec said was hers, according to the arrest report. Urmanec's cellphone also was seized.

The State Attorney’s Office has had prior overdose cases that resulted in murder charges, although no cause was listed in Beskind’s death.