Man Charged with 3rd Degree Murder

An Albert Lea man, already in prison for a felony DWI offense, has been charged with 3rd degree murder in Dakota County Court. 26 year-old Dustin Charles Chenevert was charged Wednesday in connection with the death of Colton Jayce Poplow, age 18, also of Albert Lea, that occurred in South St. Paul. On February 28th of this year, medics and police officers responded to a South St. Paul hotel shortly before 10:00am on a report that an 18-year-old male was not breathing. Shortly after arriving, medics determined the male, identified as Colton Poplow, was deceased. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner later determined that the cause of death was acute methadone toxicity from an overdose of the drug. Police learned that on the evening of February 27th, Poplow and his friend heard a commotion outside of the hotel room and both became concerned the police were doing room-to-room drug checks. Poplow was observed swallowing the last two methadone pills at that time. Through the investigation it was learned that Poplow had purchased five Dilaudid pills and at least six methadone pills from Chenevert. No trial date has been set.