Mobile man charged with murder in fentanyl case

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - A 45-year-old Mobile man is locked up at Mobile County Metro Jail on a felony murder charge following the fentanyl death of Brian Zewen, according to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.

Zewen overdosed and died on Aug. 13, after he bought fentanyl from Michael Elton Moseley, the sheriff’s office said.

Moseley was booked into the jail on Monday.

“We hope that it’s going to send a message to the other drug dealers as well. This defendant has been in trouble for many years for different things. Selling drugs, using drugs, domestic violence, things of this nature. This is a big-time charge now,” Sheriff Cochran said.

The MCSO in a news release today said Zewen’s mother contacted the agency about his death and what she believed caused it. MCSO undercover Narcotics and Major Crimes detectives investigated his death and presented their findings to the Mobile County District Attorneys Office.

“The mother was adamant on this, and she stayed involved. This death occurred back in August of this year, and she’s been persistent as we have,” Sheriff Cochran said.

This is the first case in Mobile County where felony murder charges have been brought against someone who sold fentanyl and it was the cause of death, according to the news release.

“Fentanyl is now one of our biggest challenges on the streets and we are going to be very aggressive in fighting back,” said Sheriff Sam Cochran for the news release. “We are going after the seller, the person who sold to the seller, and then to the distributor. If you are selling fentanyl we are coming after you. If you sell it to someone and they die, we are coming after you with a felony murder charge. We have to stand together as a community and create awareness about this very powerful drug”.

Chief Deputy Paul Burch said he has charged his narcotics deputies to go after these fentanyl dealers and hold them accountable for any deaths that happen because of their distribution of this very deadly drug, the release states.

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