OK man charged in connection with friend's fatal drug overdose

MIAMI, Okla. - An Ottawa County man is facing a murder charge for failing to take a man suffering a methamphetamine-fentanyl overdose to the hospital.

Brandon Maples, 41, of Miami, is charged in Ottawa County District Court with second-degree murder in the drug overdose death of Bo Gray, 43, of Miami.

According to an arrest affidavit, on January 18, Maples allegedly drove around for hours with an unresponsive Gray, refusing to take him to a hospital, saying he "did not want Gray's family to know that Gray was using drugs again." 

At the urging of several friends, Gray was dropped off at a Miami hospital "unresponsive, no vital signs, and a body temperature of ninety degrees," court records show. He was transferred to a Joplin hospital where he died the next day of "fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity," according to the Oklahoma State Chief Medical Examiner. 

According to an arrest affidavit, Maples and an unidentified female went to Gray's work site on Jan. 18 during Gray's lunch hour. Gray got into the backseat of the car, where Gray found a bag of powder. Maples told investigators Gray allegedly touched the substance to his tongue and said the substance made his tongue numb, leading him to believe the substance was cocaine.

Immediately after Gray snorted a line of the powder, he slumped over and became unresponsive, the affidavit states.

Maples told investigators he knew Gray was not going to be able to go back to work, so he drove the unresponsive man around for a while. Maples reportedly stopped by a two different friends' houses seeking help, both instructed Maples to take Gray to the hospital.  

Court records say that while Maples drove around with his friend, laying unresponsive in his backseat for hours, Maples allegedly took two friends to different casinos. A surveillance video was obtained, and investigators say it showed their presence at a casino in the evening, hours after Gray was picked up from his work site.

Maples remains in the Ottawa County jail held on $250,000 bail. He was arrested in February on charges of conspiracy to commit forgery, identity theft, and possession of meth.

The conspiracy charge alleges that he and the murder victim, Bo Gray, along with another person forged some checks and cashed them on an account that belonged to someone else.

The murder charge was not filed until November 27th. Maples is scheduled to be back in court December 11th.