New Kensington man sentenced in fatal heroin overdose

The mother of an Allegheny Township woman told a Westmoreland County judge Monday that her daughter finally had an opportunity to experience California, but it came after death when her ashes were cast into the Pacific Ocean.

“She always had a love of California, and I finally took her there — unfortunately, not before her death,” Deborah Morabito said following the guilty plea of the man police say sold her daughter a fatal dose of fentanyl-laced heroin.

Deborah and Ashley Morabito had tentative plans to visit California — a place where Ashley had wanted to live as a child. But Ashley died before the pair could make the trip. So Deborah Morabito chartered a sailboat called “Daydreamer” and scattered some of her daughter’s ashes in the Pacific.

Ashley Morabito, 24, overdosed June 28, 2018.

Morabito, a graduate of Kiski Area High School, obtained an associate degree in advanced medical billing and coding in 2018. Her mother said she was an award-winning essay writer and a competitive cheerleader who loved animals, shared jokes with her grandfather and hoped to one day have a daughter.

Deborah Morabito said Ashley was known for her “uniqueness” and “great sense of humor” and she remembered her daughter as an “intelligent, beautiful, funny and compassionate young woman.”

Jonathan Paul Schufert, 28, of New Kensington pleaded guilty to a felony charge of drug delivery resulting in death and a related drug offense. Police said stamp bags of the drugs that depicted a picture of a skull and crossbones were traced to Schufert, who later admitted he sold the doses to Ashley Morabito.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio sentenced Schufert to the terms of the negotiated plea bargain that call for him to serve 4 to 8 years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Pete Caravello said Schufert faced a mandatory sentence of 40 years in jail but a reduced sentence was necessary to ensure a conviction that could have been jeopardized by evidentiary issues.

“We traced the stamp bags back to the defendant, but an additional stamp bag found there may have played a role in her death,” Caravello said.

According to court records, Schufert identified his drug supplier but that person was not prosecuted and has since died, Caravello said.

On Monday, Schufert, who attended the hearing via a remote connection from the county jail, expressed remorse for his actions.

“I am very sorry. Words cannot explain how I feel. I’m sure the family doesn’t want to hear it, but I am sorry,” Schufert said.

For Deborah Morabito, Schufert’s apology offered no solace.

“There’s no word to describe a mother that has buried her child,” she said.

Morabito said she hopes her daughter’s story can help bring awareness to substance abuse disorder.

“She was a valuable human being,” Morabito said. “I would like to decrease the stigma around drug addiction.”

Ashley Morabito was a “well-functioning addict,” her mother said, noting her daughter “excelled in every endeavor she pursued.”

“I’m an extremely proud mother, and I am so blessed to have had Ashley as my daughter,” Deborah Morabito said. “We were looking forward to making new memories together.”