Wausau woman charged in two near-fatal Marathon County Jail overdoses

By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review

A 39-year-old Wausau woman is accused of providing drugs to two Marathon County Jail inmates who overdosed within minutes of one another and nearly died.

Jessica L. Messman faces two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety and a charge of delivering fentanyl as party to a crime. The charges, filed Jan. 24 in Marathon County Circuit Court, carry a repeat enhancer due to a prior 2022 felony conviction, which can increase the penalty for Messman if she is found guilty.

In a separate case, Messman is facing homicide charges after allegedly providing drugs to a woman who collapsed in a Wausau apartment and died, just four days before the overdoses at the jail.

The latest charges against Messman stem from an investigation that began the night of Oct. 21 when two inmates at the jail were found unresponsive and unconscious due to apparent drug overdoses. Both women received emergency care on scene and were transported by ambulance to Aspirus Wausau Hospital.

According to court documents, Messman was arrested on Oct. 20 and booked into the jail, and brought heroin with her. In interviews with police, she allegedly said she provided one inmate with heroin on Oct. 21 because the woman was “dope sick,” and eventually gave the same woman more drugs to give to another inmate. Then, Messman allegedly handed off the drugs to another inmate, Kelsey Zastrow, who concealed the drugs inside her body prior to a strip search.

One day later Zastrow allegedly retrieved the drugs and gave it to a corrections officer because she “didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

The charges come less than three weeks after prosecutors accused Messman of reckless homicide. In that case, investigators connected Messman to an Oct. 17 fatal overdose in the 100 block of N. Third Avenue, where a toxicology report showed the victim had a lethal combination of drugs in her system including fentanyl, heroin, ketamine and methamphetamine. Police say the woman arranged to buy a point of heroin form Messman shortly before her death.

On Jan. 4, Messman was formally charged with first-degree reckless homicide by delivery of drugs and manufacturing or delivering amphetamine as a repeat offender. The homicide charge now carries a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison after a legislative change made last year in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Prison System records show Messman was released from Taycheedah Correctional Institution on Sept. 19 after spending more than a year in custody for prior charges. Messman was previously convicted of fifth-offense operating while intoxicated and related charges after she was found under the influence of drugs, slumped behind the seat of her vehicle at a convenience store. Police say she left her 2-month-old baby unsupervised at the time. Prosecutors filed child abandonment charges against Messman at the time, but those charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Messman has since been returned to prison and could be sentenced to additional time for her previous crimes, under the terms of her sentence.

An initial appearance is set for Wednesday, Jan. 24.

You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.