Alex King was one of hundreds of Americans who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2020, but in an effort to send the message King’s should be the last such death in Columbia County, the man who allegedly sold the drug to King has been indicted on a charge of felony murder.
At a press conference Monday, Feb. 7, Columbia County Judicial Circuit District Attorney Bobby Christine announced the return of a murder indictment against Colin J. Magill, 30, of Grovetown. He is accused of causing King’s death by distributing fentanyl to him.
Ingesting two milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal. According to the toxicology report, King had taken 27 milligrams of fentanyl, Christine said.
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King, 28, died on July 19, 2020. He and a second man were seen lying outside on a Martinez lawn that day. Two doses of Narcan saved the other man, Christine said.
From this point, Christine said his office and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office want to send a clear message: If you give another person illegal drugs and he dies, you will be prosecuted on murder charges.
The investigation is ongoing, Christine said Monday. The man with King who survived the overdose assisted with the investigation, Christine said.
Magill was arrested Friday. The Columbia County grand jury returned the murder indictment Thursday.
Although not common, murder indictments have been issued in overdose deaths in the past. In August, two men in Bryan County were indicted on federal charges for causing a death by distributing fentanyl. A Camden County jail inmate who allegedly gave another inmate fentanyl was indicted in November 2020, and two men in Brunswick who sold a woman a fatal dose were indicted on federal charges in 2018, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
According to the Georgia Attorney General’s office, overdose deaths now kill more Americans than homicide and traffic crashes combined. From May 2020 to April 2021, the number of fentanyl overdoses rose from 482 to 994.
MORE: Local Fentanyl Deaths Outpacing National Numbers
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid prescribed for people in severe pain such as surgery patients, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. It is 100 times more potent than morphine. But it is also being made in illegal labs and combined with other drugs and pressed into counterfeit pills. In one test of such pills, 42 percent contained a potentially fatal dose of two milligrams or more of fentanyl, according to the DEA.
Columbia County Judicial Circuit Chief Superior Court Judge James G. Blanchard Jr. who runs the drug court for Columbia, Richmond and Burke counties said Monday that two of three recent deaths of drug court participants is believed to have been caused by fentanyl.
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So many people are ingesting fentanyl through other illegal drugs, not only opioids but cocaine and even marijuana, Blanchard said.
“I keep telling people that buying street drugs isn’t like buying Bayer aspirin that the company guarantees its product. With street drugs, you don’t know what you’re getting,” he said.
In 2020, 143 people overdosed in Columbia County while 483 overdosed in Richmond County, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
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Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
