Columbia man charged with murder in fentanyl overdoses
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Columbia man was charged Thursday with felony second-degree murder for two October fentanyl overdoses.
The victims reportedly thought the powdery drug was cocaine, according to a police account of the investigation.
Tavares Eric Patrick II, 27, was arrested by Columbia police around 5 p.m. Wednesday. He was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of selling drugs.
Charges were filed Thursday over two overdose deaths that occurred on Oct. 13.
A probable cause statement says the victims died from overdoses and the powder tested positive for fentanyl, but that a survivor told police they thought the powder was cocaine. Patrick is also suspected of an overdose death that happened the following day, the probable cause statement says.
Police connected Patrick to the scene through his Facebook account, which used the name Tommy Capone. The statement says the overdose happened at a trailer park. Dispatch records show an overdose call the same day from a trailer court on Blackfoot Road in northwest Columbia.
Online court records show Patrick has been convicted for several crimes since 2015, all taking place in Boone County.
Court records show on Nov. 17 Patrick admitted to violating his parole for a 2022 misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree domestic assault. It was revoked and reinstated for two years of supervised probation.
Records show in 2019 he pleaded guilty to felony second-degree assault. He was sentenced to five years of supervised probation, which ended at the start of 2023. A probable cause statement said Patrick was driving a vehicle when he ran over a juvenile.
In 2018, he pleaded guilty to felony stealing and was sentenced to five years of supervised probation. Documents show the sentence was revoked. A probable cause statement said he flagged down an officer and admitted to having a gun. The officer looked up the serial number and confirmed the gun was stolen.
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