Man indicted on murder charge after drug-related death in DeKalb County

DEKALB COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A man is being charged with second-degree murder following a months-long investigation into a drug-related death out of DeKalb County.

Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department began investigating on Feb. 9, 2023, after 39-year-old William Wayne Graham was found dead at a residence on Bright Hill Road in Smithville.

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According to the TBI, the investigation revealed that Graham had died from acute combined drug toxicity that included ethanol, alprazolam, cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. Officials believe 59-year-old Scott Ferrell supplied Graham with the cocaine that led to his death.

On Nov. 27, the DeKalb County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Graham with one count of second-degree murder, one count of sale of a schedule II narcotic and one count of delivery of a schedule II narcotic.

The next day, Ferrell was arrested and booked into the DeKalb County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

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