Stephen Gonzalez
Stephen Gonzalez, 27, was a man his mother, Dawn Marie Dingee, described as a mama's boy with a lot of love in his heart. He had struggled with addiction for years, including a period on methadone, and while he was held at South Bay House of Correction in Boston, his mother said he was taken off methadone and went into painful withdrawal. He was released on April 6, 2018 with a monitoring bracelet to attend his stepfather's funeral. In April 2018 he died of a heroin overdose at his mother's apartment in Jamaica Plain; his mother said his tolerance was much lower after the abrupt stop, and she believes he would still be alive had he been allowed to stay on methadone.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of an overdose (neglect alleged). His mother, Dawn Marie Dingee, says he died of a heroin overdose after South Bay House of Correction stopped his methadone, which left him in painful withdrawal and with lower tolerance.
Reported by: mother, Dawn Marie Dingee (family or their lawyers).