High bail on mom held in daughter's OD death

Jazzmyn Rood at Rochester District Court arraignment on Friday (Courtesy WMUR); below, Mark Ross, Leslie Aberle (Police photos)

ROCHESTER - With Eve Tarmey's father softly weeping in the front row of a packed courtroom, the mother of the 17-year-old Spaulding student who died last month of a drug overdose at the Riviera Motel was arraigned on Friday on charges she contributed to her own daughter's death.

Jazzmyn Rood, 41, of 11 Barker Court, Rochester, pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child and offered no plea as expected on the more serious felony charges of felony conspiracy to commit possession of a controlled drug and felony reckless conduct placing another in danger.

Eve Tarmey died early the morning of Oct. 17 inside Room 117 of acute fentanyl intoxication. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 30 times more potent than heroin.

Assistant County Attorney Tim Sullivan argued that Rood's bail should be continued at $10,000 cash as she was a danger to herself and the community. He said it had been learned she was still using heroin as recently as Tuesday and that she had defaulted on a drug possession charge out of Massachusetts.

Rood agreed to have the bail continued and her probable cause hearing was set for Nov. 19.

Tarmey, father, Troy Tarmey, along with friends and family members packed a front row of the courtroom for the arraignment, which was delayed for more than a half hour due to technical issues relating to the video feed from Strafford County Jail where Rood is being held.

The other two defendants in the case, Mark Ross of 479 Gonic Road, The Riviera Motel, Room 117 where Tarmy died; and Leslie Aberle, 31, of Salisbury, Mass., were also arraigned

Ross was arraigned at Rochester District Court by video from Rockingham County Jail where he is being held on high bail for a Nottingham robbery. He entered no pleas on felony dispensing of a controlled drug, death resulting, which has a maximum sentence of life in prison; felony conspiracy to commit possession of a controlled drug, felony tampering with witnesses and informants and two counts of falsifying physical evidence.

His bail was set at $50,000 in addition to the high bail in connection with the Nottingham charge and his probable cause hearing in Tarmey's death was set for Nov. 23.

Meanwhile, Aberle was arraigned on fugitive from justice charges in Newburyport, Mass., Friday morning. She waived extradition and will soon be moved to New Hampshire to face her arraignment on charges connected to the case.

Aberle, who traveled with Ross to Massachusetts to get the drugs that ultimately killed the 17-year-old, was also charged with dispensing a controlled drug, death resulting as well as felony possession and felony tampering with witnesses and informants.