Woman pleads guilty to manslaughter, drug charges in death of 22-year-old
ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WLNE) — A 24-year-old Attleboro woman pleaded guilty to manslaughter, gun and drug charges in Fall River Superior Court Monday, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said.
In addition to manslaughter, Sydney Dahmani, 24, also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and unlawful possession of a firearm. She was sentenced to serve three to five-and-a-half years in state prison.
According to court documents, the victim, Shannon Mulligan, 22, of Norton, was in a rehabilitation facility when Dahmani contacted her on social media multiple times to tell her she had fentanyl.
After contacting her in January, February and March of 2021, Mulligan responded and met with Dahmani the day she was released from the facility. Dahmani later overdosed and died in the early morning hours of March, 6, 2021, the day after visiting with Dahmani. Officials said the cause of death was acute fentanyl and cocaine intoxication.
Further review of messages between Mulligan and Dahmani revealed that Dahmani, “had a body on her hands,” officials said.
On Oct. 1, 2021, a State Police detective for the District Attorney’s office and Attleboro police conducted a search warrant on Dahmani’s phone, pulling over a car she was a passenger in, outside her apartment.
According to police, they located $3,055 in cash as well as cocaine and heroin in the car. Police later conducted a search of her apartment where they said they located more cocaine, drug distribution materials and a gun.
Dahmani was interviewed at the Attleboro Police Department where she admitted to police that she was with Mulligan the day she got out of rehab.
Officials said Mulligan was a former honor roll student, a varsity athlete and a mother of a young child. During the sentencing hearing, the victim’s mother, father and sister all gave impact statements about how the loss of the victim has affected their lives and the life of the victim’s daughter.
