“He was locked up in Kenton County when he was made aware of this,” she told Butler County Common Pleas Judge Kelly Heile Tuesday afternoon. “They didn’t even extradite him back here. They let him out and told him to turn himself in. He immediately reached out to me over the weekend and turned himself in last night.”
A Butler County grand jury indicted Byner of Michaels Run in Colerain Twp. on involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, and corrupting another with drugs, a second-degree felony, related to the death of 36-year-old Sherry Geis, of Seward Road in Fairfield.
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Police said family members found Geis in her bed from an apparent overdose, and paramedics determined she was deceased, according to police. The Fairfield Police Department’s investigation led to Fairfield Twp. after it was determined Byner had allegedly sold Geis drugs around the corner from Geis’ Fairfield home at the UDF on Tylersville Road in Fairfield Twp.
According to the Butler County Coroner’s Office, the autopsy showed Geis died from an accidental drug overdose of fentanyl and cocaine.
Geis is also his sister-in-law, the sister of his wife, Blackney said.
Blackney argued for a low bond given he turned himself in, owns two homes, and operates two businesses, a transportation company and cleaning company. Blackney argued he has family ties in Tennessee and chose to turn himself over to police instead of fleeing.
Heile set a $100,000 cash or surety bond, and if he is able to post bond, he will be on GPS monitoring and subject to pretrial supervision, reporting weekly and submit to random drug screenings. He does have a travel restriction, but if his job requires him to travel outside the state, Blackney said she would file a request.
The judge said despite his ties to the area — he’s lived in Colerain for two years — the bond was set high given Byner’s “significant” criminal history in Tennessee.
Byner is scheduled to appear back in Heile’s courtroom at 8:30 a.m. for a plea or trial setting.
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