photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Timothy E. Thompson, left, and Jessica L. Silkiner-Gallardo appear at a hearing on Oct. 24, 2023, in Douglas County District Court.

Two defendants rejected plea deals from the state to resolve charges of distributing heroin that led to a Lawrence woman’s death in 2018.

Jessica Leigh Silkiner-Gallardo, 38, and Timothy Edward Thompson, 42, both of Lawrence, are each charged in Douglas County District Court with one felony count of distribution of heroin causing death, according to charging documents. The charges relate to an incident on Aug. 25, 2018.

The alleged victim, Blossom Faye Kyle, 25, of Lawrence, was found unresponsive by her boyfriend around 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 26, 2018, and was declared dead at the scene by responding emergency crews. According to her autopsy report, she died of a heroin overdose.

The two defendants were scheduled on Tuesday to enter a plea to the charge, but both rejected the offers.

Silkiner-Gallardo’s attorney, Hatem Chahine, said that she would not enter into any agreement with the state at this time because she has a pending federal case. Chahine said that without knowing how one case might affect the other it was best to set the case for trial.

According to court records, Silkiner-Gallardo is facing an indictment in the U.S. District Court of Kansas for conspiracy to distribute heroin along with Martez Davis, Christina Swalm and Scott Moseley in connection with events that occurred between March and May of 2021. It’s unclear where those events occurred.

Thompson’s attorney, Angela Keck, said that Thompson would not be accepting a plea offer either.

Senior Assistant District Attorney David Greenwald said that the state had offered Thompson an agreement that if Thompson pleaded guilty or no contest to one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of distribution of heroin, the state would recommend a total of 87 months, or just over seven years, in prison.

Judge Amy Hanley scheduled Thompson for a motions hearing on Feb. 2, 2024, and she set a trial date for Silkiner-Gallardo on Feb. 20, 2024.

Thompson was first arrested in connection with the charge on March 4, 2021, and is currently free on a $40,000 surety bond. Silkiner-Gallardo was first arrested on May 21, 2021, and is free on a $20,000 bond, and she is not in custody on her federal charge.

Thompson has a felony conviction for drug possession in Douglas County from 2013. Silkiner-Gallardo has felony convictions for drug possession and forgery in Wyandotte County from 2009.

According to a motion filed by the prosecution, Thompson and Silkiner-Gallardo were in contact with Kyle on Aug. 25, 2018, and exchanged messages in which Kyle had agreed to pay them $300. Thompson sent a message to Kyle around 3 a.m. that said, “Do not keep calling over and over ever. I was driving with (stuff) on me…” followed by “I apologise hun my phone died and no charger it’s been a long hard night but it’s finally thru and we literally just got back so I have ur (stuff)” — to which Kyle responded, “Can I come by real quick?” and police traced Kyle’s phone location to Thompson and Silkiner-Gallardo’s residence shortly after the messages were exchanged.