A fourth Ripon suspect in a 2023 fentanyl overdose was sentenced Oct. 30.

Donavin Mueller, 19, is scheduled to be sentenced in February.

FOND DU LAC – Donavin Muller, 19, is the fourth suspect convicted in the case fentanyl overdose death in Ripon in 2023.

Mueller pleaded guilty Oct. 30 to first-degree negligent homicide, according to Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney.

The court revoked the bail and ordered a preliminary investigation. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 7 by Judge Douglas Edelstein.

On the morning of April 7, 2023, officers with the Ripon Police Department responded to reports of a man lying on the sidewalk and found an 18-year-old victim deceased at Scott Street and Stanton Street.

That July, one man and four teenagers were arrested on suspicion of giving a man drugs laced with fentanyl, watching him overdose and leaving him on the sidewalk without seeking medical attention, a criminal complaint said.

According to Toney, Mueller was the source of the fentanyl, two levels removed from the supply made by the two co-defendants. The source between them and Mueller could not be charged because he was dead.

“Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl and opioids,” Tony said.

During the more than three-month investigation, every department officer was involved in some way with the case and had a hand in its conclusion, Ripon Police Chief William Wallner said when the suspects were arrested.

The victim was not publicly identified in police reports or criminal complaints.

Mueller is the fourth and final suspect in the murder case. Co-defendant Mason Springston, 18, pleaded guilty on August 1 and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2. Joseph Schmidt-Rehbein, 17 years old, announced his refusal to participate in the competition on September 6His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 20. Michael R. Manske, 23, pleaded no contest to the 9/11 conviction and his sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 21.

A fifth defendant, Olivia Nordvold, 18, is scheduled to have a plea hearing in November on misdemeanor drug possession charges and one felony count of maintaining a drug trafficking place.

The Ripon Police Department investigated the cases, and Assistant District Attorney David Maas prosecuted the cases.

Contact Daphne Lemke at [email protected].