Investigators have charged a man with felony murder in last year’s drug overdose death of Cleveland resident Dylan Jimmy Grizzle. Deputies also charged a second suspect with interfering in the investigation.
Grizzle’s body was discovered at a residence on Gordon Road in November of 2021. On Friday, June 10, authorities arrested and charged Cory Garland Seabolt with Grizzle’s death.
In addition to murder, agents charged the 42-year-old Seabolt with distribution of fentanyl, concealing a death, hindering an emergency phone call, making false statements, and concealing facts.
Investigators charged 31-year-old Christopher Brandon McJunkin, also of Cleveland, with making false statements and concealing facts.
The arrests followed a six-month investigation by the GBI’s Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office (ARDEO) and White County Sheriff’s Office. ARDEO Special Agent in Charge Trent Hillsman explains that anytime his agency is involved in a death investigation involving a drug overdose, “we work it backwards like a homicide.
“Our investigation revealed that Seabolt was the one that supplied the drugs [that killed Grizzle],” Hillsman tells Now Habersham.
Charging drug dealers with murder
There’s been an alarming rise in fentanyl-related deaths in Georgia in recent years. According to State Attorney General Chris Carr’s office, fentanyl-involved overdose deaths increased by 218.4 percent from 2019 to 2021.
“I’m very concerned about fentanyl and heroin right now because they do seem to be leading the deaths,” SAC Hillsman says. “All we can do is try our best to limit the people who can get their hands on it.”
Part of that effort includes vigorously charging suspected dealers who supply drugs that result in someone’s death. In 2021, a Habersham County Superior Court Judge Chan Caudell sentenced Ashley Sosebee of Mt. Airy to seven years in prison for the 2017 drug overdose death of Michael “Adam” Hicks. Sosebee, like Seabolt, was charged with felony murder, but the charge was negotiated down to felony involuntary manslaughter on a plea deal with prosecutors.
Hillsman says the courts have not yet warmed up to the overdose-related murder charge which often gets lowered or dropped. Still, he says, the threat of severe punishment may make some drug dealers think twice before selling it.
White County Sheriff Rick Kelley agrees.
“The reason you are seeing more and more of these types of murder cases being prosecuted is because of the record number of fentanyl deaths that we are seeing in our communities, not only here in Georgia but across our nation. I believe that prosecuting these cases as murders will be a deterrent for drug activity,” Kelley says.
After 25-years in law enforcement – 21 spent with the GBI – Hillsman knows all too well the immense challenges drug agents face. Still, he says, he and those he serves with at ARDEO are determined to help as many people as they can by preventing as many drug deaths as they can.
“I still feel like we’re fighting a good fight; not winning it, but still fighting it.”
This article has been updated with additional comments and information
