LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A man connected to three overdose deaths across three Kentucky counties is facing charges as toxicology reports reveal the victims had methamphetamine levels hundreds of times higher than typical overdose amounts.
Brian Epperson is linked to the deaths of three women in Powell, Clark, and Fayette counties. Toxicology reports showed all three victims — Kristin Morris, Reacheal Dawson, and Hilory Davis — had more than 12,000 nanograms per milliliter of methamphetamine in their blood.
The highest level was found in Davis' blood at 72,000 nanograms per milliliter, which is 360 times more than the average overdose amount.
"That is on the order of almost it's more than 1000 times the therapeutic range in the blood. And so, I mean, that's an astonishing amount of methamphetamine," University of Kentucky Behavioral Science Professor William Stoops said.
Stoops explained that a therapeutic concentration of methamphetamine would be around 20 to 50 nanograms per milliliter that a physician would administer, and between five and 25 nanograms per milliliter when taken orally.
"So you take it, it goes through your stomach. It gets processed through your intestines, and your body absorbs it, so the stomach will have destroyed some of that medication, right? So that won't get into your system. Your intestines will only absorb a certain amount right into the blood and it'll be excreted," Stoops said.
This means someone may take or be given milligrams of a drug, but only nanograms of the drug will show up in a blood test.
In the case of Hilory Davis, who was found dead at a Lexington hotel in November of 2024, the nanogram level per milliliter in her blood was so concentrated that it was more than a thousand times greater than what a doctor might prescribe in a clinical setting.
"Unlike for opioids where we have Narcan, we don't have a reversal agent for methamphetamine overdose, right?" Stoops said.
The University of Kentucky is currently researching a drug that could reverse methamphetamine overdoses.
In both Powell and Clark counties, Epperson is charged with illegal drug use. His case has been waived to the grand jury.
