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Dead Columbia Student's Boyfriend Says "She Was Doing Drugs Long Before She Met Me"
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 2, 2013
Modified Apr 2, 2013
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 2, 2013
Modified Apr 2, 2013
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The autopsy for the Columbia student who died of an apparent overdose in a university residence hall on Sunday was inconclusive as her family blasted her boyfriend. Relatives of Jessica Fingers accused Peter Russell, who discovered Fingers unconscious, of killing her.
While it's suspected that Fingers died of an overdose, the Medical Examiner's autopsy was inconclusive and the ME's office will need to conduct further tests. Fingers had been on leave from Columbia for undisclosed reasons since last year but she and Russell were visiting a friend.
Russell wrote on his Facebook page—which he has since deleted—that he discovered her body. After Fingers's relatives started to post things like he "killed my cuz" and should "go to jail for life," Russell fired back, claiming, "If any of u idiots knew her then u know she was doing drugs long before she met me," and "She bought that methadone her damn self."
Peter Russell's Facebook comments yesterday, before he took down the page
Russell's former roommate Thomas Meyer told the Daily News, "The friends that Jessica had prior to Peter were a party crowd. I understand that her family is grieving and they need someone to blame. But they can’t solely put her death on Peter. The two made a conscious decision to do these things."
Fingers had suffered blood clots in her brain, and was in the process of suing Merck, accusing the pharmaceutical company's NuvaRing birth control of causing the clots. She had posted on Facebook last May, "my brain blood clots dissolved!!! no more blood tests & coumadin woot woot!!!" she said about the blood-thinning drug coumadin... Now that I'm off blood thinners and no more MRIs...time to get body parts pierced and re-pierced."
Her mother said that her daughter had recovered completely, adding that she "never liked" Russell, "He influenced the decisions she made in the last few months. He wasn’t good for her."
Tagged
birth control
columbia
drugs
jessica fingers
lawsuit
methadone
nuvaring
overdose
peter russell
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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