Authorities charge drug dealer with felony murder in death of client

DOUGLAS - A convicted drug dealer has been charged with felony murder after one of his customers died from allegedly overdosing on the dealer&#39;s cocaine. <br> <br> Coffee County Sheriff Rob Smith says he decided on the unusual murder charge to send a message to other drug dealers. <br> <br> Smith said, ``I&#39;m going to either stop it, or I&#39;m going to run them out of this county.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The sheriff says 30-year-old Thomas Powell, of Telfair County, has already been convicted of selling drugs to 19-year-old Chad Merritt, who died on January 3. He&#39;s now in jail on that charge. <br> <br> Smith says an autopsy by the state crime laboratory found that Merritt died of an acute drug overdose, and investigators have traced the source of the deadly dose to Powell. <br> <br> Under Georgia law, a person can be charged with felony murder, if he causes a death while committing another felony, such as selling illegal drugs. Authorities do not have to prove malice in the death. <br> <br> Authorities say charging a drug dealer with felony murder is not unprecedented, but it is unusual and has never been tried before in Coffee County.