48-year-old Brandon Davis of Sandstone is facing a third-degree murder charge after he allegedly sold the narcotics that led to an overdose death in March of 2020.
According to the criminal complaint, deputies from the Pine County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a residence in Hinckley on March 29, 2020, with the report of a male overdosing on controlled substances.
The 25-year-old victim was found in a bedroom of the residence, laying on his back and unresponsive. Naloxone had been administered before law enforcement arrived. The victim was still not breathing, and no pulse was found by deputies.
Paramedics were unable to revive the victim, and he was declared dead in the early hours of March 30.
Deputies later learned during interviews with the people at the residence that the victim had used heroin. The man law enforcement talked to denied knowing where the narcotics came from.
Investigators reviewed social media records, and on the day the victim died, a Facebook conversation showed the victim and the man had gone looking to buy drugs. The messages included a conversation with Brandon Davis.
On April 2, 2020, law enforcement executed a search warrant on a residence in Hinckley. Davis was at the residence along with two others, and officers identified a room where Davis had been sleeping. The complaint said law enforcement found a digital scale next to Davis' car keys, a digital scale on the headboard of the bed, and a camera case containing two bags - later testing positive for heroin and fentanyl.
Further investigation led officers to learn that the victim had purchased heroin from another man at the residence, Joseph Dunkley, earlier in the day. However, the victim returned to buy more later. Dunkley had left and said he did to see the victim, but Dunkley did confirm that Davis had been staying at the residence. The victim was reported to have purchased two kinds of heroin from Davis. The complaint says one kind was the same as purchased earlier. The other purchase was said to be a different kind of heroin.
An autopsy was performed on the victim determined the cause of death to be mixed drug toxicity from fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine.
On August 12, 2020, a confidential informant under the supervision of the East Central Regional Drug and Violent Offender's Task Force purchased suspected heroin from Davis in Sandstone. The substance was sent to the BCA for testing. It was determined to be .15 grams of Fentanyl.
On September 23, 2020, Davis was found in possession of suspected heroin in Pine County. The substance was also submitted to the BCA for testing, and it was determined to be 30.336 grams of Fentanyl.
According to the Pine County Jail Roster, Davis was arrested on June 7, 2021.
The maximum sentence for third-degree murder is not more than 25 years and/or a fine of $40,000.
