An oral surgeon in Montgomery County, Maryland, was sentenced to 45 years in prison, with credit for time served, for his girlfriend’s overdose death in 2022.
Dr. James Michael Ryan was convicted last summer of second-degree depraved heart murder and involuntary manslaughter after the death of Sarah Harris in the home they shared in Clarksburg. Harris was 25 and died of ketamine, propofol and diazepam intoxication after prosecutors said Ryan, then 50, gave her powerful drugs from his practice.
“These drugs were drugs, except for one of them, that were used uniquely and exclusively in operating rooms,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy previously said.
Fifty-five years was the maximum sentence.
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Text messages and emails showed Ryan had been providing Harris with the drugs, prosecutors said. They argued that one message showed that Ryan administered the drug while she was sleeping. “If you wake up … I just went [to] change after I gave you ketamine. Just now," it said.
Harris’ sister showed the messages she found on her sister’s phone to the lead detective.
“That’s when he started his work on his investigation into Dr. James Ryan and what he was doing to my sister behind closed doors,” Rachel Harris said.
Harris’ family says she competed in beauty pageants, knew multiple languages and dreamed of joining the Peace Corps to help people around the world.
“Sarah was the shining star to all of our lives,” said her father, Mark Harris. “She was a caring, loving daughter, sister, granddaughter, aunt and friend.”
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Ryan maintains his innocence.
