More Details on McMinn Woman Charged With Murder

On March 3rd, 2015, Brittany Taylor Ball sold Amanda Beasley of Athens some of her legally prescribed methadone pills.

And on March 4th, court documents say Beasley, the married mother of one daughter, died of a drug overdose from them.

Tuesday, a grand jury charged Ball with the second degree murder of Beasley.

Officials say prescription pill overdose is an epidemic.

"In Tennessee, drug over doses regarding prescription pain medication in 2014 lead the state in adult deaths even more so than gun shot wounds and car crashes," Guy said. "So it’s a huge problem state wide. And we really need to change our attitude about why and what we do with our prescription pain medications."

"Clearly, drug abuse is when someone purchases illegal narcotics," said Dr. Paul Fuchcar who is the executive director of the CADAS drug treatment center in Chattanooga. "But not so clearly, drug abuse is when you take someone else’s prescribed medications."

Methadone is a prescribed drug to treat heroin addiction.

But it is still an opiate and still incredibly dangerous.

"Methadone can be abused and we see folks in here that are trying to get off methadone," Fuchcar said.

But the sharing of the drug caused a death and officials say they are prosecuting these crimes with everything they have.

"We’re going to take a stand on it," Guy said. "When we find those things, we are going to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law because this is what happens when that illegal activity takes place."