Woodstock Man Fatally Overdoses Woman, Sentenced To Prison: DA

WOODSTOCK, GA — A 23-year-old Woodstock man was recently sentenced to 40 years after pleading guilty to fatally overdosing a 20-year-old woman, District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway said Tuesday.

Treadaway said Michael Dalton Waters entered a non-negotiated guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter and distribution of controlled substances relating to the May 2021 overdose of Talley Power.

The district attorney said Waters crushed a pill into powder and gave it to Talley Power and her 19-year-old friend on May 23, 2021, telling them the powder was Percocet.

The trio then went to Talley Power's home, where she was found unresponsive the next morning. She was later pronounced dead, Treadaway said.

The cause of death was ruled toxic effects of fentanyl and tramadol by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Division of Forensic Sciences, Treadaway said.

She added a toxicology screen found 14 micrograms of fentanyl and 0.21 micrograms of tramadol in Power's blood.

Waters was also accused in an earlier case, during which Talley Power's sister died, Treadaway said.

Treadway said Baylee Power died of a drug overdose in September 2020. Though Waters was accused of provided the drugs that killed both of the Powers sisters, Treadaway said he was never charged in Baylee Power's death because it was ruled accidental.

State prosecutors recommended Waters serve a combined 30-year sentence, with 15 years to serve in prison, in connection with Talley Power's death. The recommendation included probation and drug treatment.

Treadaway said Superior Court Judge Tony Baker sentenced Waters to 40 years, with the first eight years to serve in prison. Waters was also ordered to avoid alcohol and drug use, receive treatment for mental health and substance abuse and have no contact with listed family members of Talley and Baylee Power.

"More often than not, drugs distributed on the street are non-pharmaceutical grade and therefore may contain substances other than that in which the user intended for introduction into the body, including fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine," read a news release from the district attorney's office.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad investigated the case.