A Columbia County man accused of murder after selling a friend pills laced with a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl pleaded guilty to a reduced charge Wednesday, Nov. 9.
Colin Magill, 31, pleaded guilty in Columbia County Superior Court to possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute. He was indicted earlier this year on felony murder charges in the July 2019 death of Alex King, 28.
King’s mother and stepfather, with whom he lived, strongly opposed the Wednesday’s outcome.
“Every parent’s greatest fear is my reality,” Laura King told Judge Sheryl B. Jolly.
And the man who poisoned her son wasn’t being held accountable. Her husband, Brian Lugo, asked the judge to send a message about dangerous fentanyl is, which the family thought would become true when Magill was prosecuted for murder.
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“Loss of hope is one of the worse feelings you can have. It steals your soul,” he said.
District Attorney Bobby Christine said he should have talked with King’s family when he realized evidence in the case against Magill proved to be such it couldn’t be prosecuted as murder. It was his mistake that he should have explained to the victim’s family first, and he regretted any more anguish the family has suffered.
“I own that,” Christine said.
On July 19, 2020, King and his friend Benjamin Hutto were found unconscious outside of Hutto’s Martinez home. First responders administered Narcan to both, but King died. King had been buying drugs from Magill for a year, Christine said. That last time was the afternoon he died. According to text messages, Magill warned King that what he had contained fentanyl and “be careful,” Christine said.
King bought four pills from Magill. Four pills were found in his vehicle.
Defense attorney Richard Goolsby Sr. said King and his friend were buying drugs from others in the weeks before they overdosed. The pills Magill provided weren’t ingested.
“He didn’t kill anyone,” Goolsby said.
Magill sold drugs and he was taking responsibility for that, Goolsby said.
Magill and King had been friends since school. King had struggled with drug addiction since he was a teen, but he graduated from drug court in 2018. Both men had been arrested for drug possession. Magill pleaded guilty in 2009, and a charge against King was dismissed after he completed the drug court, according to court records.
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The judge agreed with King’s family that more must be done to educate people of the dangers of fentanyl and how it has and will continue to kill, mostly kill young people.
Between June 2021 and June 2022 there were 735 homicides in Georgia. But during the same period, 244 Georgians overdosed on heroin, 1,312 overdosed on fentanyl and another 1,626 overdosed on other opioids, Jolly said.
“It’s a tragic problem that our society has got to start responding to,” Jolly said.
Jolly sentenced Magill to five years in prison followed by 20 years on probation.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
