The two-year investigation with the Carver County Sheriff’s Office into my cousin’s passing concluded in April 2018. The decision was announced on Thursday, April 19, 2018 at the Carver County Justice Center in Chaska, Minnesota. Carver County Attorney Mark Metz articulated the legal status of the investigation and announced that no criminal charges would be filed.
My name is Charles (Chazz) Smith. I started Justice4cuz in April 2016. The investigation involving the death of Prince Rogers Nelson is personal because Prince is my younger cousin, and we grew up together.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency determined Dr. Michael Schulenberg illegally prescribed opioids in the days leading up to my cousin’s fatal overdose. Dr. Schulenberg agreed to pay a $30,000 fine to settle the alleged drug violation. He admitted to Carver County Sheriff’s Detective Chris Nelson that, “he had prescribed Prince a prescription for Oxycodone the same day as the emergency plane landing but put the prescription in Kirk Johnson’s name for Prince’s privacy.” As part of the settlement agreement, Dr. Schulenberg agreed to comply with stricter reporting requirements of controlled substances with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration over the next two years.
I consulted with legal professionals and considered a number of options. After meeting with the Carver County Sheriff’s Office, I took some time to reflect on the results of the initial investigation. On May 1, 2018, I announced on social media that I would be launching a private and secondary investigation. My plan was to continue to respectfully press the authorities until there is both accountability and justice into my cousin’s tragic and untimely death.
Let me be perfectly clear that my primary objective is to learn who obtained the counterfeit Vicodin pills that were laced with Fentanyl and what role others played regardless if it was an accident or not.