Murder charges follow overdoses of women from Edina, Ramsey

Two alleged Twin Cities drug dealers are charged with murder in connection with unrelated overdose deaths, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

Gregory A. Loupe, 38, of Minneapolis, was charged in connection with an Edina woman's death on April 7 at her home in the 6800 block of Creston Avenue. Police officers came to the home that morning and found the woman dead in her bedroom. Her two juvenile daughters were there as well, according to the criminal complaint.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office identified the woman as 46-year-old Maria L. Dalton.

Dalton served as a firefighter with the Minneapolis Fire Department from 2001 until 2008, a fire department spokesman said.

According to the complaint:

One daughter told police that her mother picked her up from a shopping mall about 9:30 the previous night and went to bed about 90 minutes later.

The other daughter found the mother unresponsive the next morning and called 911.

A police search of her cellphone revealed communication between Loupe and Dalton dating back to mid-2017 about drug transactions, including on the night before she died.

Officers searched Loupe's home and recovered cocaine, marijuana, a digital scale, a handgun and more than $2,000 in cash.

In an unrelated case, Eric James Aguilera, 25, of Ramsey was charged with third-degree murder after an unidentified woman overdosed on heroin Dec. 17. Her boyfriend called 911 to their home on 310 8th St. SE and found her dead. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled her death was an accident caused by heroin and cocaine use. The boyfriend told police he bought the heroin from a man known as "Fatty" and identified as Aguilera. A check of the boyfriend's phone found conversations between him and Aguilera leading up to the overdose.

Both men remain jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482