FREDONIA — A Northern Chautauqua County death is being investigated as being suspicious.

According to District Attorney Jason Schmidt, on Dec. 28 Fredonia police, along with medical first responders, responded to a call for an unresponsive person within the village. It was later determined to be an overdose fatality.

That same night Fredonia police opened an investigation into the fatality.

“The investigation is still pending so all further details are being withheld to preserve the integrity of the investigation,” Schmidt said.

This death marks three deaths from 2024 that are continued to be investigated as possible homicides.

Schmidt said in an interview recently that there were two deaths in Jamestown last year that were under investigation. He declined to say how those individuals had died.

In 2024 there were seven confirmed homicides in Chautauqua County. Three of the seven were children who died in alleged abuse situations. The other four deaths were caused by a gun and all were in Jamestown.

The state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services lists various crimes on its website by county going back to 2000. Seven homicides is the most reported in Chautauqua County in a year. The previous high over the last 25 years was in 2008 when there were six.