Three Butler County Prison inmates were charged Wednesday, Jan. 31, in connection to the drug overdose death of an inmate who had been convicted of murder days before.

Qualin A. Davis, 41; Richard A. Bowser II, 23; and William J. Derrick, 42; all of Butler, were charged with possessing contraband, in relation to the Nov. 22 death of Alec Miller, 23, in his Butler County Prison cell.

Davis was also charged with felonies drug delivery resulting in death, five counts of contraband and four counts of drug sales.

Miller’s cause of death was listed as fentanyl poisoning, according to a document from the Butler County Coroner’s office. His manner of death was listed as undetermined.

Court documents indicate Davis, who was housed alone in the cell next to Miller’s, had smuggled 16.32 grams of fentanyl into the jail when he was processed Nov. 19 — two days after a jury had found Miller guilty of first-degree murder for shooting and killing Maximillian W. Halterman, 23, in March 2019.

Davis later told detectives during an interview that getting the drugs into the prison was “pure luck,” according to documents. He said he did so by hiding the drugs in his rectum.

Documents show samples of Davis’ and the two other defendants’ urine tested positive for fentanyl following Miller’s death. Derrick was Miller’s cellmate and Bowser was housed nearby, according to the court documents.

District Attorney Richard Goldinger said in an interview Wednesday that a lot of factors contributed to the time it took to charge Davis, Derrick and Bowser.

“Obviously, we had to wait to get the lab results, so that took some time. As the investigation unfolded, we were realizing there was more involved,” he said. “That combination caused it to go longer than expected.”

Documents do not indicate dates of the defendants’ arraignments or preliminary hearings.

Warden Beau Sneddon said Wednesday that when someone is processed in the jail, they could be subject to a pat-down search or unclothed search, depending on the circumstances.

Stopping contraband is one of the biggest challenges the jail faces, he added.

“There’s no perfect system; people are always going to be scheming and trying to outsmart us,” he said. “(With) the extent people are willing to go to get contraband inside of here, we don’t always find the full amount.”

He said the purchase of a body scanner for the prison was already in the works before Miller’s death. The scanner will take a full body X-ray of a person being brought into the jail to help detect contraband or other items.

The prison has 24-hour medical staff available for emergencies, and Sneddon commended them for their work. He added that Miller’s death took a toll.

“Nobody wants this to happen, in prison or outside of prison. We’re in the middle of a drug epidemic,” he said.

Detectives said early on Nov. 22, Miller was discovered in cell No. 23 unresponsive, not breathing and with blood coming from his mouth.

Life saving measures were performed, but Miller was pronounced dead at 2:01 a.m., documents show. A county coroner’s report listed his manner of death undetermined.

Documents show Davis, housed in cell No. 22, had recreation time Nov. 21 with Miller, Derrick and other inmates. This was Davis’ first recreation time after being processed Nov. 19.

During processing, a brown, powdery substance was found on Davis’ person and turned over to detectives.

A search of cells No. 22 and No. 23 was conducted Nov. 22 by county detectives. In Davis’ cell, detectives found two rolled pieces of paper, a bag containing smaller bags of a brown substance and a plastic bag of 109 suspected fentanyl pills.

In Miller and Derrick’s cell, detective said they found a rolled piece of paper.

In addition, one detective said a rolled piece of paper with the phone number of Davis’ mother was found in cell No. 26, occupied by Bowser and another inmate.

All of the items were sent to the state police regional lab in Greensburg, with results coming back Dec. 21. Detectives said the items had a presence of fentanyl. The bags and pills found in Davis’ cell amounted to 16.32 grams of fentanyl, documents show.

Detectives said urine samples were also collected as evidence from Davis, Derrick, Bowser and his cellmate on Nov. 22. Results were returned Dec. 12 indicating all samples tested positive for fentanyl, documents showed.

Miller’s death certificate and autopsy report indicated his cause of death was fentanyl poisoning.

Derrick was interviewed by detectives the day Miller died, according to documents.

He disclosed that on Nov. 21, Miller shared some contraband he had acquired from Davis, detectives said.

Documents show Derrick said he got high twice from using the substance, once after recreation time and once that night.

On Nov. 27, a corrections officer found an unfinished letter in Derrick’s cell which read, “I’m celled up with (Miller) dude who shot dude Max. We’ve been getting high for days on the biggest pk BCP has ever let get through the door.”

Derrick was interviewed again about the letter Jan. 11. Detectives said he disclosed the letter was written Nov. 21, between “getting high with Miller on the dope.”

Davis was interviewed by detectives on Jan. 8, according to documents.

During the interview, documents show Davis indicated he got the fentanyl into prison by putting it in his rectum, as well as swallowing some.

Detectives said Davis disclosed he provided fentanyl to Derrick and Bowser on Nov. 21.

Video footage from the jail’s recreation time on Nov. 21 showed Derrick entering Davis’ cell for 10 to 15 seconds. Detectives said the video also showed the recreation area, where Davis handed a piece of paper to Miller.

Documents showed Miller then got down on one knee and put something in his right sock, looks at the paper given to him, and hands it back to Davis.

About an hour later, detectives said Davis, Miller and Derrick were locked in their cells while Bowser was taking recreational time.

Footage showed Bowser visiting Davis’ cell door several times, though the door is closed, which detectives said could indicate an exchange of contraband.

Detectives said Bowser disclosed Nov. 22 that Davis hid a tablet of fentanyl inside a piece of paper with a phone number on it and slid it through the cell door.

Davis was arrested Nov. 19 in relation to charges of felony strangulation and misdemeanor simple assault. The felony charge was withdrawn Dec. 18.

Derrick was arrested Oct. 2 and placed as Miller’s cellmate Nov. 17. He is charged with numerous counts of retail theft by Butler Township police throughout 2023.

Bowser was taken to prison Oct. 27 because he has charges in another state and is awaiting extradition, according to Goldinger.

Miller was found guilty of first-degree murder after a four-day jury trial that concluded Nov. 17. Miller was convicted of shooting and killing Halterman on March 19, 2019, at a home in Oakland Township. Miller was 19 at the time.

Jurors deliberated for several hours Nov. 16 and gathered again Nov. 17 before finding Miller, 23, guilty of first-degree murder.

Miller was scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 5. Butler County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCune, who presided over the case, set the date after ordering a presentence investigation.

During the trial, prosecutors said Miller went to Halterman’s house in March 2019 and shot him twice, once in the face and again in the neck.

Miller originally was charged with homicide, robbery, burglary, criminal trespass and theft, but McCune dismissed all but the homicide charge on the third day of the trial.

On the final day of the trial, Miller testified he’d shot Halterman in self-defense when he went over to Halterman’s house to give him a Savage Axis 7 mm rifle in partial payment for the debt.

“I think me coming in the door kind of startled him a little bit” Miller said. “He pulled a gun on me, I fired once. He was still moving, I wasn’t sure if I shot him or not, so I pulled a little closer and shot him again.”