BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Brevard County grand jury indicted a Titusville woman on two counts of first-degree murder Wednesday, accused of delivering a batch of fentanyl that killed two men, including her own son.
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25-year-old Austin Vessels and 39-year-old Matthew Taylor were both found dead from a possible overdose in Vessel’s Titusville apartment on Sir Hamilton Circle on the morning of July 18.
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A powdery substance found next to Vessel’s body was later confirmed to be fentanyl and the Medical Examiner subsequently determined the cause of death to be due to an accidental overdose of fentanyl.
When interviewed by Titusville police, Vessels’ mother, 48-year-old Brandi Vessels, admitted her son and Taylor had been “partying and using cocaine” at her house the day before they were found.
Brevard Grand Jury Indicts Brandi VESSELS (48) for Double Drug Delivery Murder after her son Austin Vessels and his friend Matthew Taylor died overdosing on Fentanyl she delivered to them. All charges, offense summary at https://t.co/TriXkoaaDy pic.twitter.com/a6JxjWdEXZ
— State Attorney 18th Circuit FL (@SA18PIO) February 23, 2022
According to police, when they ran out of cocaine, Vessels asked his mother to get them more. Police say Brandi set up a deal and took her son with her to buy an “8-ball” of what she believed to be cocaine, then gave the drugs to him.
An arrest report says Vessels took the drugs back to his apartment and met Taylor where they were both found dead the next day after Taylor’s father went to pick him up for work.
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According to the report, Vessels told police she tested the substance she bought by rubbing it on her teeth and was convinced it was cocaine because it made them numb.
She also stated she should have known there was something else mixed with the drugs because the price was higher than normal.
Brandi Vessels was arrested on January 25. She’s being held in the Brevard County jail on no bond.
The grand jury heard testimony from an investigator with the Titusville Police Department and the Brevard County Medical Examiner before returning with the indictment.
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No trial date has been set.
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