Blue Ridge, Ga. – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has arrested and charged Brandon Scott Hicks, 37, of Mineral Bluff, and Breanna Micaela Rodriguez, 28, of Andrews, N.C., with felony murder, possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute and possession of a controlled substance in Fannin County.
According to a release, on Dec. 12, 2023, the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office requested that the GBI’s regional investigative office in Cleveland look into the death of Joshua Darrin Hughes, 41, of Blue Ridge. Hughes was an inmate at the Fannin County Detention Center when he was found unresponsive on Dec. 12. Hughes was taken to Fannin Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was then taken to the GBI Crime Lab for an autopsy.
Preliminary information from the autopsy and the investigation revealed that Hughes died of a fentanyl overdose, according to the release from the GBI.
During the investigation, GBI agents discovered that Rodriguez reportedly brought fentanyl into the detention center and provided fentanyl to Hicks, while both were inmates at the detention center. The investigation further indicated that Hicks provided the fentanyl to Hughes before Hughes was found unconscious at the detention center.
Hicks and Rodriguez remain in custody at the Fannin County Detention Center. When the investigation is complete, it will be given to the Fannin County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution