Alissa Cunningham at her detention hearing Feb. 27, 2026
An Ocean City woman's guilty plea in the 2017 drug-induced death of a Somers Point man was not listed among her prior crimes during a detention hearing this week.
Alissa Cunningham, now 38, was released from jail Friday, pending the outcome of her latest case, which stems from violating a domestic violence restraining order.
It was Cunningham who called police from a parking lot in Egg Harbor Township on Feb. 19, after an apparent physical confrontation with her 16-month-old son's father, according to information presented during the hearing.
She had two prior violations of the order within five days last May, court records show.
The public safety assessment used to help decide whether a defendant should be held under bail reform recommended she be held, citing six pending drug-related charges and a criminal history that includes bail-jumping and drug distribution within a school zone out of Cape May County.
But Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Wilson pointed to the details of Cunningham's criminal history in deviating from the recommendation that she be held, noting no violent history and just third-degree drug charges and the bail jumping.
But what was not listed in the history provided to the court was Cunningham's admitted part in a deadly drug-trafficking ring that was tied to three fatal overdoses.
One of those drug-induced deaths was William Ang.
In December 2018, Cunningham admitted to picking up the heroin that killed Ang.
She claimed she did not know it was laced with fentanyl when she got it from the Fox Manor in Atlantic City and gave it to Jessica Downey, who delivered it to Ang.
Cunningham pleaded guilty under an agreement that called for 10 years in prison with 8½ years of parole ineligibility, But that charge was dropped at her sentencing on the Cape May County charges, under a second plea agreement that gave her four years with two years of parole ineligibility for the drugs and bail-jumping there.
There was never any explanation as to why there was an "updated plea agreement," as it is referenced in her sentencing paperwork.
Cunningham also opted not to attend her sentencing as she already was serving a prison sentence, and did not want to be transferred back for the day.
It is not clear when she was released from prison.
Her new cases do seem to indicate her drug dealing days are not over.
During a motor vehicle stop Dec. 23 in Absecon, the officer said Cunningham appeared to be trying to hide things inside the vehicle, while "constantly attempting to draw attention away from herself by having me speak to the (vehicle's) registered owner over the phone," the officer wrote in the affidavit of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC.
The vehicle also matched one that fled a motor vehicle stop about a week earlier, and had been tied to drug transactions and drug activity inside, the affidavit states.
Cunningham would not consent to a search of the vehicle, and "even pawned off the decision of consent onto the registered owner, who was only on the phone and not in present possession of the vehicle," the officer wrote.
An Egg Harbor Township K-9 was called to the scene, and gave a positive indication that drugs were present, the affidavit states.
A search yielded nearly a half-ounce of suspected methamphetamine, three crack pipes, several unused syringes and paraphernalia used in the preparation and distribution of drugs, the affidavit states.
