By Beth Alston

AMERICUS — A second man had been arrested in the murder of Tiffany Marie Matice, age 27.
According to Americus Police Chief Mark Scott, Brian Eric Clark, 33, of Cordele has been charged with felony murder in this case.
Americus Police responded at 5:17 p.m. Dec. 19 to a residence in the 700 block of Wheatley Street to a report of an unconscious person. On arrival, officers found Matice dead from an apparent drug overdose.
Following an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death, police charged Michael Eugene Newell, 31, of 266 LaCross Road, Lot 19, Americus with felony murder for felonious actions that led to the death of Matice. Newell had been arrested in Cordele on unrelated charges and transferred to Sumter County on Dec. 20, charged and jailed.
Both men are currently being housed in the Sumter County Jail.
Lewis Lamb, District Attorney for the Southwestern Judicial Circuit, told the Times-Recorder after Newell’s arrest, “In any overdose case, if we can prove the connection between the death and drugs provided by any particular person, we will look at it as a felony murder and prosecute it to the limit of the law.”
The investigation into this incident is ongoing. Anyone with additional information related to this investigation is asked to call the Americus Police Department at 229-924-3677 or after business hours at 229-937-9011.