Boise man pleads guilty after failing to notify police about overdose death

Tommy S. Basco told an Ada County judge on Thursday that he neglected to report the death of Charles Peyton Chambers, 19, following a drug overdose last October.

During an appearance before Judge Lynn Norton, Basco pleaded guilty to a felony charge of failing to notify authorities of a death. When he’s sentenced June 1, Basco, 29, faces up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Chamber’ mother, Allison High-Chambers, who said Basco treated her son’s life “like nothing more than a mere liability to him,” would like to see him receive the maximum sentence.

“His actions were nothing less than deplorable. I imagine if he had a pet he would've treated it with more concern and better care than he treated my son. He clearly has no moral compass or conscience to speak of,” High-Shambers wrote in an email to the Idaho Statesman.

Chambers’ body was found inside a car parked at the Hyatt Hidden Lakes Reserve in West Boise. Investigators determined that Chambers had not died in the car and developed information that led them to Basco.

He told police that Chambers apparently overdosed on heroin on Oct. 25. Basco said he tried to revive Chambers by placing him in a bathtub of cold water and later injecting him with methamphetamine.

Chambers reportedly regained consciousness and walked around after that, before going into another room to sleep, a prosecutor said during an earlier court hearing.

Basco told police he found Chambers dead the next morning and took the body of the 2015 Boise High School graduate to the reserve, where he left him in the car.

No additional details were presented in court. The Ada County Coroner’s Office on Thursday afternoon said because of the criminal proceedings, it could not release Chambers’ cause of death.

It’s unclear how the two men knew each other.

Last fall, Allison High-Chambers told the Idaho Statesman her son had packed his car and was planning to move to Utah, where she lives and where he had spent much of his childhood. She said he wanted to break away from a crowd he had surrounded himself with. Her son’s death occurred after he went to say goodbye to his friends.

At the time, Chip Chambers of Boise said his son loved longboarding, whitewater rafting and enjoyed going to concerts and spending time with friends and family members. He also loved to read books on World War II, among other topics.

Peyton Chambers also enjoyed cooking and had worked at Sakana Sushi Bar and Grill and the Tilted Kilt restaurant.

Basco was convicted in 2008 of felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. He spent a time in jail and completed probation in 2015.

The same month Chambers died, Basco was accused of pinning a man between two cars and pointing a gun at him while a second man stole the victim’s rifles and a bag of clothing. Basco and the other man were charged with robbery. The case was dismissed after a hearing in December when the victim refused to identify either defendant as the men who robbed him.

This story was originally published March 30, 2017 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Boise man pleads guilty after failing to notify police about overdose death."