A homeless woman was arrested Monday on suspicion of murder in connection to a 2022 fentanyl overdose case, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday.
The sheriff's office says deputies were dispatched to the old County Animal Services building on Oklahoma Avenue in San Luis Obispo for a report of a deceased male behind the building on Oct. 27, 2022.
The victim was identified as Quinn Hall, 31, of Templeton. Sheriff's officials say it was later determined that Hall died of a fentanyl overdose.
Detectives say that shortly before Hall died, he was sold fentanyl by a woman identified as Brandi Turner, 50, who was living at the Oklahoma Avenue Safe Parking site.
Detectives reportedly determined that the fentanyl Turner allegedly sold to Hall led to his death. The sale of fentanyl is alleged to have occurred at the Kansas Avenue Safe Parking area in San Luis Obispo. As a result, Turner was arrested for homicide on Monday, May 15, 2023.
Turner is currently being held in the San Luis Obispo County Jail without bail on murder and drug charges for the sale of fentanyl and possession of fentanyl for the purpose of sale, allegedly discovered during a search of her motorhome on Nov. 9, 2022.
Turner appeared in court Tuesday, May 16 for arraignment on the charges as an in-custody defendant and requested that her arraignment be continued to Wednesday, May 23 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 3 of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, Judge Craig van Rooyen presiding.
This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Detective Greg Smith at 805-781-4500.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story attributed the sheriff's office as saying this is believed to be the first case in the county in which a fentanyl death will be prosecuted as a homicide; however, the district attorney's office reports this to be the second such case.
