WALKER — Officials in Livingston Parish have charged three men with second-degree murder in three separate cases for the deaths of three people that authorities have attributed to methamphetamine and fentanyl overdoses.
At a news conference Wednesday morning, Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard announced that Travis Freeze, 32, of Denham Springs, Logan Brown, 33, of Denham Springs, and Bryant Young Jr., 23, of Baton Rouge, will have murder cases brought against them.
It marks the first time anyone has been charged with murder in Livingston Parish for illegally distributing narcotics, officials said.
"In this particular case, LPSO detectives had to prove that an individual distributed or administrated a particular controlled dangerous substance which claimed someone's life, (which) is not easy," Ard said. "But … we have the proof required to move forward."
Scott M. Perrilloux, district attorney for the 21st Judicial Court, echoed Ard's belief that there is evidence to show these suspects are responsible for the victims' deaths, but he also acknowledged difficulties in prosecuting a drug distribution and overdose as a murder case. Still, he said the accused are "serious offenders" and need to be dealt with sternly, which is why second-degree murder charges have been applied.
"You have to show that it was a direct cause of somebody dying (because of) unlawful distribution or dispensing," Perrilloux said. "Our burden is always to prove those elements beyond reasonable doubt."
The prosecutor — whose district includes Livingston, St. Helena and Tangipahoa parishes — said he could recall only one other instance in which similar charges were pursued by his office for distribution leading to an overdose death. But even then, Perrilloux said an arrest and referral from law enforcement as a second-degree murder count did not occur like it has with these three suspects.
Freeze is accused of distributing drugs to Robert ‘Robbie’ Sibley, 43, of Walker, who was found dead from an overdose in December.
Ard said Freeze had an extensive criminal history related to control of dangerous substances and was out on supervised parole for drug convictions until 2027 when investigators believe he distributed to Sibley. He was arrested on Feb. 5 for an unrelated drug case, and authorities later obtained evidence related to Sibley's death.
District Attorney Scott M. Perrilloux, left, listens to colleagues at a news conference Wednesday related to three arrests and murder charges connected to the drug overdose deaths of three people in Livingston Parish.
Brown was charged for the death of Andrea Armand, 50, of Walker, who Ard said died on April 2 while receiving medical treatment related to a drug overdose days earlier. At the time, Brown was also not in custody but on parole for previous narcotics convictions.
The sheriff said Brown told a family member "I killed that girl," referring to Armand's death. Brown later admitted to investigators that he distributed methamphetamine to Armand, which detectives said led to her death.
"Brown's recklessness has and will affect our family for the rest of our lives," Armand's family said in a statement given to the Sheriff's Office.
The third suspect, Young, received a murder charge for the death of Patrick Kimble, 45, of Denham Springs, who authorities said died from an overdose on May 10. The coroner's office found fentanyl in his system.
Evidence on Kimble's cellphone led to the arrest of Young on a count of second-degree murder, Ard said. Like the other two accused, Young had previous drug charges on his record, including a 2022 arrest in Baton Rouge for distribution.
In 2023, 86 people died from overdoses in Livingston Parish, and 90% of those had involved fentanyl, according to the parish Coroner's Office. As of Wednesday, 43 overdose deaths have occurred in the parish since the start of 2024.
At Wednesday's news conference, Jim Brown, chief investigator at the Livingston Parish Coroner's Office, explained that the overwhelming majority of overdose deaths in the area are what his office calls "mixed drug" cases.
"They have multiple drugs, fentanyl, methamphetamines, amphetamines, you name it. It's a cocktail," Brown said.
In these cases, Brown said, the combination of multiple substances increases the chance of a fatality, especially when fentanyl is involved.
He said it only takes enough powdered fentanyl to cover a penny for it to be deadly.
"People don't understand what little bit of fentanyl was required to kill someone," Brown said.
Though becoming increasingly common throughout the country, murder charges in drug overdose deaths can be difficult to prove to juries.
A 2020 case in New Orleans resulted in a handful of drug charges, but the jury was deadlocked on the murder count pursued by former Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro. The prosecutor failed to prove that the defendant's alleged distribution of heroin and fentanyl was the cause of a victim's death.
In East Baton Rouge Parish, murder charges have been pursued in drug overdose deaths in the past. District Attorney Hillar Moore III said it does not happen very often in his district but would not characterize it as unusual.
According to Moore, 13 cases in his district since 2001 have included indictments or arrests for second-degree murder related to a drug overdose death. Only one of those cases resulted in a life sentence for a murder charge.
In 2015, a Baton Rouge jury convicted Jarret McCasland, of Denham Springs, of murder for his role in the overdose death of his fiancé, Flavia Cardenas. McCasland was handed a life sentence he is now serving in Angola for supplying the heroin that killed Cardenas.
The sentence — which McCasland has repeatedly appealed — received national attention and garnered criticism from advocacy groups.