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Atlanta rocker convicted in drug-overdose death
The 23-year-old lead singer of an Atlanta rock band was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday by a Fulton County Superior Court judge.
Warren Eugene Ullom, lead singer of The Judies, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in front of Judge Doris Downs for his involvement in a drug-overdose death of a 32-year-old woman, the Fulton County District Attorney's Office announced. He also was convicted of possession and distribution of cocaine and heroin.
On June 6, 2008, Rachel San Inocencio was found dead in Ullom's apartment after an ambulance was called to the scene. Earlier that evening, the two participated in heroin use and San Inocencio immediately became critically ill. Rather than seeking medical help, Ullom, then 21, contacted a friend via text message and instructed him to bring over cocaine for the then-unconscious San Inocencio. He then injected her twice with cocaine in an attempt to revive her, authorities said.
The friend who provided the cocaine called 911 upon leaving Ullom's apartment, but gave the wrong address to the dispatcher. He did this despite receiving a text message from Ullom stating, “She is better. No Ambulance." San Inocencio died approximately 30 minutes after the text was sent, officials said.
Ullom eventually called an ambulance and put the remaining cocaine in San Inocencio's purse, authorities said. When EMT and police arrived at the scene, Ullom asked police to take San Inocencio's purse with the body.
Ullom's attorney, Guy Davis, said the voluntary manslaughter charge and 20-year sentence came after a plea bargain. Davis said Ullom was originally charged with felony murder, which requires a minimum 30-year sentence.
Davis said the real villain of his client's incident was the heroin dealer-- something he thinks the district attorney should have considered.
"The pressure was on to get Warren Ullom -- and they did," Davis told the AJC on Tuesday.
According to officials, further investigation proved that Ullom sold San Inocencio's diamond earrings to a pawn shop on June 9, 2008. Ullom denies stealing the earrings.
The Judies' most recent album, eponymously titled, was released March 12.
Kahle Davis, son of Ullom's attorney and manager for The Judies, said fans can expect the other band members to continue performing.
"Without [Ullom] as frontman, they'll continue playing with different front people from other bands," Kahle Davis told the AJC on Tuesday.
Davis said guitarist Matthew Smith and drummer David Miksch are working on solo projects as well as roles in other Atlanta bands.
Ullom's conviction will not disrupt any of The Judies' planned tour dates.
"We had enough notice of the [conviction] date, so we didn't schedule any [shows]," Davis said. "We held several last shows."
According to the band's manager, The Judies' final performance with Ullom as frontman was May 29 at 7 Stages in Little Five Points, where they created a concert DVD and had done some recording in the past week.
