Man accused of leaving nephew for dead in North Huntingdon fails to appear for hearing

A warrant was issued for a Forest Hills man who failed to appear for a hearing Wednesday in a case involving his nephew’s 2022 death in North Huntingdon.

The lawyer for Jeffrey Carlson said his client claimed work obligations kept him from attending the hearing in which he was to plead guilty to lesser charges of reckless endangerment and abuse of a corpse related to the death of Michael W. Debruyn, 26, of Hempfield, whose body was found Aug. 10 in a parking lot near the MedExpress Urgent Care near Route 30 in North Huntingdon.

Carlson, 57, was charged last year with involuntary manslaughter in addition to the two other counts, but that offense was dropped by prosecutors, according to court records.

Melanie Jones, spokeswoman for District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli, said the prosecutor’s office would not comment on the case.

“Because nothing happened today, and a plea was not entered, it would be inappropriate for us to speculate, given the circumstances,” Jones wrote in an email.

Carlson initially provided “questionable and inconsistent statements” regarding Debruyn’s whereabouts, according to court papers.

He sent photos to Debruyn’s mother of her son sleeping at a North Versailles home where Carlson lived at the time in the hours before Debruyn was reported missing, investigators said.

The North Huntingdon business where the Mustang was found is about 5½ miles from the home.

Authorities said surveillance video from locations on Route 30 showed the Mustang traveling in the area overnight between Aug. 8 and 9 before parking at 1:07 a.m. and a man identified as Carlson walking along the highway. Cellphone records showed Carlson’s phone was in the area during that time frame, investigators said.

During another interview, Carlson told police he was thinking about driving Debruyn home, but when he got Debruyn into the passenger seat of the Mustang, the nephew groaned and stopped breathing, according to court papers.

He drove the car to the location where it ultimately was found and threw Debruyn’s cellphone and wallet out the window.

Carlson admitted to police that he should’ve called 911 for help, investigators said.

Debruyn died of an accidental drug overdose, the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office said.

Assistant Public Defender Chris Huffman said Carlson, who had been free on a $1,000 unsecured bond, was expected to receive jail sentence that required him to serve three to 23 months behind bars.