Schuylkill County prosecutors want all three people involved in the overdose death last year of a Tamaqua woman to be tried together.

It's a matter of "judicial economy," said First Assistant District Attorney John T. Fegley."We have the same facts and the same witnesses for all the defendants' charges," he said.The defendants are Kyle J. Merenda, 22, of Barnesville; Melanie L. Kropp, 25, of Mahanoy City; and Jonathan James Seekins, 34, of Coaldale.The three were charged by trooper Joseph W. Hall of the Frackville barracks in the April 2, 2016, death of Alexandria "Alex" Sienkiewicz, who overdosed on fentanyl.All waived their preliminary hearings, and are free on bail as they await further court proceedings.At a hearing Thursday before Judge James P. Goodman, lawyers for Seekins and Kropp told Goodman they do not oppose consolidating the cases.Seekins' lawyer, public defender Michael J. Stine, attended the hearing with his client.Joseph P. Nahas Jr., who represents Kropp, weighed in by telephone. Kropp is in drug rehab in Florida.Merenda's court appointed lawyer, Jeffrey M. Markosky, was appointed on June 30, 10 days after the hearing was scheduled. Neither he nor Merenda attended the hearing.Goodman gave him 10 days to review the matter and submit a response. If he doesn't meet that deadline, the case will be consolidated by default.Fegley said the case would have been consolidated much earlier, but Merenda's refusal to accept an attorney made that impossible.Merenda was charged with drug delivery resulting in death, delivery of a controlled substance, dealing in unlawful activity, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of a controlled substance.Seekins was charged with drug delivery resulting in death, criminal solicitation - delivery of controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance.Kropp was charged with criminal solicitation - delivery of a controlled substance, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of a controlled substance.Nahas told Goodman he expected her case to be resolved quickly.According to court documents filed by Hall, Kropp drove Seekins and Sienkiewicz to Merenda's house, where Seekins gave Merenda the $120 in exchange for what the three thought was heroin.They went back to Seekins' house, where Seekins gave Kropp 10 bags of the drug for driving, and gave five bags to Sienkiewicz.Kropp and Sienkiewicz drove back to Tamaqua, where sometime between 2:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. April 2, Sienkiewicz's mother found her in bed, unresponsive, with a needle in her arm.