A Douglas man has been indicted on murder charges in Cook County stemming from the 2021 death of Jonathan Taylor McManus, 29, of Wedowee, Alabama, according to a story published in the January 21, 2026, edition of The Adel News-Tribune.
The story, written by News-Tribune editor Charles Shiver, states that Derrick Brandon Thomas, 42, of Douglas, was indicted for felony murder (four counts related to multiple offense against one victim) and aggravated assault (three counts, against the murder victim and two other individuals).
The indictment states that on September 11, 2021, Thomas caused the death of McManus while Thomas was in the commission of a felony – the “purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution, or sale of a controlled substance.” Shiver’s story says that Thomas sold Roxicodone (oxycodone) that was laced with fentanyl. Thomas told the buyer that the pills “were not pressed or counterfeit.” The pills caused serious complications to the individuals who took them. McManus passed away and the buyer was hospitalized.
The story further states that the four felony murder counts are related to the four felonies that Thomas allegedly committed during the events that led to McManus’s death. The three aggravated assault counts are related to the sale of the fentanyl-laced pills to McManus and two other individuals.
McManus was employed at Freedom Trailers in Tifton and was a member of the Alabama National Guard.
Thomas is currently at Coastal State Prison in Garden City, according to the News-Tribune.
