Accused heroin dealer faces 3rd-degree murder charges for 2019 overdose death

A man has been charged with third-degree murder stemming from a 2019 overdose death.

Court documents show that 31-year-old Bret Lott is charged with third-degree murder after a woman he was with died from a drug overdose. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office said her cause of death was opiate toxicity.

The criminal complaint states that a 27-year-old woman was found dead by deputies with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office inside a Roseville motel room while they were conducting a welfare check. The complaint also details that the towels and personal items were already removed from the room. 

Law enforcement learned the room was rented to Lott and that staff had seen him between noon and 1 p.m. when he went to get more towels. 

The complaint states that messages on Lott’s social media show him discussing the potency of the drugs in his possession. Lott wrote that he began selling fentanyl because of the high tolerance of his heroin customers.

According to court records, his messages are quoted saying “So gotta be careful af cuz a sober person will od off .002, cuz I only do a hp or a p at most and I got quite a tolerance.” Another message said “I just had way too many od so im a lil nervous 2 give this w anyone cuz i od b4 by sniffing about 1/2 a point and my face ain’t itch 1st or nothing. No warning signs I sniffed a half p and walked into work and next im waking up in a ambulance so i don’t want nothing 2 happen 2 u dog.”

More messages from Oct. 31, 2019 show Lott speaking with the woman about drug sales, and Lott sent her the address to the motel in Roseville, the criminal complaint states. At 12:25 a.m. on Nov. 1, Lott sent the woman a photo of both of them with the caption “Happy Halloween” written on it. Both also had red eyes in the photo.

Investigators also spoke with Lott’s mother, who said Lott called her on Nov. 1. Lott’s mother told police that Lott told her that he was doing drugs with a woman who died. He told her he was afraid to call the police because he had active warrants for his arrest. The complaint also states that Lott said, “she had only spent $9 on the drugs and there was no way a person could die from that small amount.” 

Lott had an active warrant after a September 2018 arrest in Wisconsin related to the manufacture/delivery of heroin. 

Lott was arrested in St. Paul on April 28, 2022, in St. Paul. Two firearms and suspected fentanyl were recovered during the arrest, according to the complaint.

During an interview with investigators, Lott admitted to being at the motel with the woman the day she died, and that he fled because of his active warrant at the time. He also admitted to using and selling drugs but denied providing the drugs that caused the woman’s death. 

An inmate inside the Eau Claire County Jail told an investigator that Lott spoke about the woman’s death “on several occasions.” The inmate claims that Lott said the woman “must have gotten into his stuff, used it, and died.”