Metro Detroit man charged in fatal drug overdose bound over to circuit court

A Metro Detroit man charged in a fatal drug overdose that happened last September has been bound over to circuit court, the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday.

Aron Edwards, 50, is charged with one count of delivery of a controlled substance causing death, according to the prosecutor's office.

Prosecutors said police officers in Clinton Township, Michigan, responded to a home on Williamson Street for a reported drug overdose on Sept. 2, 2025. They found a man and woman unconscious and suffering from "apparent drug overdoses."

The prosecutor's office said the man, identified by officials as 54-year-old Roger Benthal, died at the scene. The woman was resuscitated.

According to prosecutors, an investigation "led authorities to Edwards in connection with the narcotics involved" and subsequent toxicology testing showed Benthal had carfentanil in his bloodstream. 

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration defines carfentanil as a synthetic opioid developed to "tranquilize large animals such as elephants" and says it's not approved for humans to use.

"Because of its strength, a nearly microscopic amount of carfentanil can induce a powerful, and often deadly, effect in humans," the federal agency said.

A Clinton Township judge bound Edwards over to the Macomb County Circuit Court on the charge at the end of a preliminary exam on Thursday, according to the prosecutor's office. 

Edwards is scheduled to be arraigned at the circuit court on May 18. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.