Man indicted for murder in fentanyl case

By Charles Shiver

Last week, the Cook County Grand Jury returned a true bill of indictment against Derrick Brandon Thomas, 42, of Douglas for felony murder (four counts, related to multiple offenses against one victim) and aggravated assault (three counts, against the murder victim and two other men), according to Superior Court records. Thomas has been housed at Coastal State Prison.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation brought the case.

Thomas was initially arrested Jan. 28, 2022, and charged with felony murder, according to the GBI.

According to a warrant and the indictment, on Sept. 11, 2021, Thomas caused the death of Jonathan Taylor McManus, 29, of Wedowee, Ala., while Thomas was in the commission of a felony offense, O.C.G.A. 16-13-30(b), purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution, or sale of a controlled substance.

According to the warrant, Thomas knowingly sold and distributed Roxicodone (a brand name for oxycodone) pills that were laced with fentanyl to a buyer. The warrant states that Thomas led the buyer “to believe that the pills were not pressed or counterfeit,” which caused the buyer and others who consumed the pills to believe they did not contain Fentanyl or other dangerous additives.

As a result, between 4 p.m. Sept. 10, 2021, and 8 a.m. Sept. 11, 2021, at a Debbie Drive, Adel, address, the buyer, McManus, and another user “suffered severe physical reactions to the ingestion of aforementioned pills.”  McManus passed away, and the buyer had to be hospitalized for treatment, the warrant states.

According to court records, the four felony murder counts result from each of the four felony offenses that Thomas allegedly committed resulting in the death of McManus. The three aggravated assault counts result from the sale of the Roxicodone pills pressed with fentanyl to McManus and the two other men.

A “true bill” of indictment means that the Grand Jury decided prosecutors provided sufficient evidence that a crime was committed to take a case to trial. (An indictment does not mean that a defendant has been convicted of a crime.)

The Alapaha Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this indicted case and others in Cook County Superior Court.

According to an obituary posted online by Quattlebaum Funeral Home/Benefield Funeral Home in Wedowee, Ala., McManus was a Randolph County, Ala. native. He was a member of Penfield Christian Church and worked building cargo trailers for Freedom Trailers in Tifton, Ga. Taylor served in the Alabama National Guard. He was survived by his mother and father, and several other family members.

The Cook County Grand Jury returned 21 other true bills of indictment on Jan. 14, 2026:

• Zachary Geynold Cayo, 32, of Adel or Sparks, aggravated assault (three counts). On March 6, 2025, Cayo allegedly fired a 9mm handgun at a man and two women on North Devane Street in Adel.

• Carson Allen Benson, 34, of Valdosta, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer (two counts) and misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer. On March 9, 2025, Benson, a jail inmate, allegedly hit a Cook County jail officer in the face, and then threatened to hit the victim again.

• Michael Dale Weeks, 36, of Sparks, aggravated assault/family violence, criminal damage to property, second degree, battery/family violence, and criminal trespass. On July 20, 2025, Weeks allegedly attempted the strangulation of a woman and kicked and hit her, causing injuries. He also allegedly broke the windshield of her vehicle by throwing an object into it and threw the victim’s cellphone into a pond.

• Violet Gay Hamilton, 61, of Adel, hindering the apprehension or punishment of a criminal. On Jan. 25, 2022, Mrs. Hamilton allegedly harbored her husband David Hamilton in her home. He was wanted on criminal charges including aggravated assault and kidnapping.

• Alexia Levern Dyer, 29, of Valdosta, cruelty to children, second degree, and safety belts violation – children (three counts). According to the indictment, on Aug. 19, 2024, Ms. Dyer negligently failed to properly install an 11-month-old child in a car seat, and as a result the child received serious life-threatening injuries during a traffic accident on South Hutchinson Avenue in Adel. Two other children under the age of 8 also were not properly restrained in the vehicle, the indictment states.

• Stephanie Lynn Knight, 45, of Cecil, aggravated cruelty to animals. According to the indictment and warrants, on April 5, 2025, at a Roundtree Street, Cecil, residence, Ms. Knight maliciously failed to provide adequate food and water to a dog. According to court records, the dog had a flea infestation, heart worms, long nails, lesions on its body, and weighed approximately 40 to 50 percent of what the dog should have weighed. The dog was barely able to walk, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

• Adrian Marquaveous Williams, 20, of Sparks, criminal damage to property, second degree (slamming a woman’s iPhone into the ground), simple battery, family violence (struck the woman), and obstruction of a law enforcement officer (failed to follow an officer’s commands and ran from law enforcement).

• Ufaldo Tenorio, 33, of Adel, aggravated assault (four counts). On July 16, 2023, at a Richard Circle, Adel, address, Tenorio allegedly was swinging a knife at four men and trying to fight them.

• Clyde Williams, 48, of Adel, terroristic threats and acts, criminal trespass, and simple assault. On April 15, 2025, Williams allegedly suggested the death of a woman. He also allegedly hit a car window with a rock and attempted to hit the woman.

• Codefendants Cedric Bernard Stanford, 20, of Sparks and Jaheem O’Neal Kenney, 23, of Adel, theft by receiving stolen property (Stanford, a stolen AR-15), violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act (Stanford, four counts, association with the Bloods), entering auto with intent to commit theft (Stanford, to steal a firearm), theft by receiving stolen property (Kenney, a stolen Glock firearm), and violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act (Kenney, two counts, association with the Bloods).

• Marcus Kentray Frazier, 22, of Valdosta, burglary, first degree, and theft by taking (at a West Sixth Street, Adel, address).

• James Henry Knight, 47, of Hahira, criminal attempt to commit a felony (possession of cocaine) and DUI of alcohol.

• Codefendants William Austin Harper, 55, of Pearson and Chasity Lynn Hatch, 45, of Lakeland, Ga., burglary, second degree (illegal entry of an unoccupied structure at a Highway 41 North, Sparks, address).

• Adrian Jameal Munford, 19, of Adel, fleeing from or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer – felony, possession of marijuana, possession of drug-related objects (a scale), driving without a valid license, failure to stop for a stop sign, and driving with defective equipment (no taillight). On April 3, 2025, Munford allegedly drove his vehicle 65 mph in a 35-mph zone in Adel.

• Rashaud Lanard Brown, 21, of Hollywood, Fla., fleeing from or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer – felony, reckless driving, speeding (92 mph in a 70-mph zone on I-75), driving without a valid license, distracted driving (looking at cell phone), and seatbelt violation.

• Nathaniel Marchello Jefferson, 44, of Deltona, Fla., fleeing from or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer – felony, DUI of drugs, aggressive driving, possession of marijuana, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (9mm handgun), and speeding (90 mph in a 70-mph zone on I-75 South).

• Vinceson Rico Byron, 46, of Lawrenceville or Valdosta, terroristic threats and acts (on July 1, 2024, allegedly threatened to murder a woman’s husband).

• Vjay Jamaree Sanders, 32, of Adel or Sparks, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and discharge of a gun on or near a public street (9mm handgun on Rhone Street, Sparks, on Sept. 7, 2024).

• Joe Lewis Johnson, 61, of Lenox, theft by receiving property stolen in another state (a 2008 Infinity QX56 stolen in Florida).

• Codefendants Ashley Nicole Miley, 35, of Adel and Matthew Scott Hooper, 41, of Dawson or Lenox, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (each defendant, a 9mm firearm).

• Steven Wayne Propes, 57, of Sparks, forgery, first degree (passed a counterfeit $100 bill at Dollar General in Sparks) and possession of drug-related objects (a glass meth pipe).

Arraignments for the indicted defendants will be held beginning at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 11, 2026, in Cook County Superior Court at the Cook County Courthouse. At that time, the defendants may enter guilty or not guilty pleas to the criminal counts. The judge may then sentence the defendants who plead guilty to the counts. (Some indicted defendants may waive arraignment and plead not guilty in motions filed by their defense attorneys in Superior Court.)