The bill now heads to the House.

***

Dillon McGhee was 26 years old when she died in August 2017 after battling addiction for seven years. She was a graduate of Atlee High School and was attending Liberty University when she started using drugs.

She was within days of departing Richmond for yet more treatment in California when she went to visit John S. Nielsen in Chesterfield County, where she injected herself with heroin that he later said she brought to his house. Nielsen, also an addict, told police he left the house to get some drugs for himself.

When he returned, he said two women were waiting for him. When the three went inside, they saw McGhee slumped on a couch. She appeared blue and unresponsive. The two women left, one of them calling 911 to report the overdose.

When Chesterfield police arrived at Nielsen’s home and asked about McGhee, Nielsen said she had left. He refused to allow a search of his house and stonewalled police for 17 minutes. Believing McGhee was inside and in danger, officers entered the home and found her body in the laundry closet, where Nielsen put her.

Authorities said Nielsen later told police McGhee was a friend.