SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — 21-year-old Manarion Fuse, a South Dakota Department of Corrections inmate charged in the overdose death of fellow inmate Anthony Richards, made a court appearance in the case via video call Wednesday at the Minnehaha County Courthouse.
The 20-year-old Richards died on Feb. 6; Fuse is accused of giving him K2, a synthetic drug that’s meant to act like marijuana. Fuse is currently behind bars at the Jameson Annex on the campus of the South Dakota State Penitentiary, the same facility where he was an inmate during his alleged crime and, per the DOC, where Richards died.
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A judge entered a not guilty plea on Fuse’s behalf Wednesday. A jury trial in his case is scheduled to start the week of Oct. 6, 2025. According to online court records, this is also when 50-year-old Melibu Ross is scheduled to go on trial; she is accused of providing the methamphetamine which killed inmate Jason Garreau in another overdose death. Ross allegedly transported the meth on a visit to Garreau on May 14, with the 39-year-old dying the next day. Unlike Fuse, Ross was not an inmate during her alleged crime.
It’s unclear in Fuse’s case how he could have gained access to the drug he allegedly supplied to Richards. Court papers don’t detail how, and South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley did not elaborate on the point when discussing the case at a news conference on June 24. Department of Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko told KELOLAND News on June 12 that drugs can enter a facility in a variety of ways…