The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office announced, in a Monday news release, the arrest of an Alabama man in connection with the October 2021 overdose death of a 36-year-old Hixson woman.
Authorities say the victim died of a fentanyl overdose near the 2000 block of Rock Bluff Road in Hixson on Oct. 18, 2021, according to the news release. The Sheriff’s Office would not release the name of the victim, who it said was a mother of two.
Christopher Clay Garrison, 31, was arrested by Lake View police on Sept. 1, according to the news release. Lake View police were serving a warrant on Garrison as a result of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office investigation, according to Pam Kirsch, Lake View Police Department clerk, in a telephone conversation with the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
“Lake View Police Department in Alabama conducted a warrant service on Garrison and were able to take him into custody at his residence in Lake View, Alabama,” J. Matt Lea, the Sheriff’s Office’s spokesman, said in the release. “Following Garrison’s arrest by the Lake View Police Department, HCSO detectives responded to Alabama and were able to interview Garrison in relation to this investigation.”
Charges were brought following a 10-month investigation by the Sheriff’s Office’s investigative services, the release said. Evidence was obtained implicating Garrison had supplied the woman with fentanyl leading to her overdose death.
Garrison is charged with one count of second-degree murder, one count of identity theft and one count of theft of property over $1,000 — all felonies. Garrison is being held under a fugitive warrant at the Tuscaloosa jail, awaiting transport to Hamilton County, according to the Monday news release.
The affidavit of the incident and arrest has yet to be released by the Hamilton County Court, due to the case still being investigated by law enforcement agencies. Further details on the case have yet to be released.
— Compiled by La Shawn Pagán