photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

A third man has been charged in connection with a Lawrence man’s death by fentanyl intoxication.

Robert Leeroy Hall, 34, of Lawrence has been charged in Douglas County District Court with one felony count of distribution of a controlled substance causing death, according to charging documents.

Court records indicate that Hall appeared in court on the charge Friday after responding to a summons. He was booked into the Douglas County Jail on Tuesday morning and was released on a $50,000 own recognizance bond, meaning he was not required to pay any money to be released from jail. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 10.

The charge is in connection with an incident that occurred on Oct. 8, 2021, when emergency crews responded around 5:45 a.m. to the 1500 block of Pin Oak Drive and found Michael Aron Howell, 32, of Lawrence, dead at the scene.

According to Howell’s autopsy report, he was found face down in his home with possible drugs nearby. Howell’s wife had reported a recent incident prior to his death when he had taken a pill and he would not wake up without vigorous shaking. The autopsy said that his cause of death was fentanyl intoxication. Howell was a father of two, according to his obituary.

Also charged in connection with Howell’s death are Jon P. Beckwith, 29, and Randell Mark Smith, 31, both of Lawrence.

Beckwith was the first charged in January of 2022 and has since entered a no contest plea to the lesser felony charge of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance as part of a plea agreement with the state in which he agreed to testify truthfully against Smith and Hall. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, which Judge Stacey Donovan suspended to 18 months of probation in August, as the Journal-World reported.

Smith was charged in September of 2022 and is currently scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 16. He is currently free on a $25,000 cash or surety bond.

The Journal-World has requested Hall’s booking photo from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.