Woman convicted of Second Degree Murder for selling deadly fentanyl dose
First such prosecution in Hamilton County
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – A jury quickly found a local woman guilty of Second Degree Murder in a fentanyl overdose case on Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Morgan Copeland sold fentanyl to Nicholas Jackson in 2018, but he thought it was a different drug.
He overdosed on March 24th of that year.
That year, Tennessee lawmakers passed a new law targeting drug dealers who sell fentanyl.
It called for a Second Degree Murder charge with a 15 to 60 year penalty.
The jury took just one hour to convict Copeland yesterday under that law.
District Attorney Coty Wamp says that to her knowledge, this is the first trial under that law in Hamilton County.
“When considering an overdose death, the community may not typically think of a Second Degree Murder charge. However, the legislative intent was very clear with this statute. In Tennessee, if you sell or deliver illegal drugs to a person and that person dies as a result of those drugs, you can be found guilty of murder.”
Copeland will be sentencing in two weeks.
“My hope is that this conviction is a wake-up call for drug dealers all across our county. We will continue to prosecute under this statute and we will continue to focus our efforts on sending dangerous drug dealers to prison,” Wamp said.
