(Lawrenceville, Ga., 07/02/2024) – A man connected to two Fentanyl overdose fatalities will spend 40 years in prison for selling pills containing the substance to a 22-year-old Lilburn man who died of an overdose in November 2023.

Devin Duvall Wells, 32, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, felony distribution of Fentanyl, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance with intent to distribute, and three counts of illegal use of communication facility in connection with the death of Gannon McDermott. In a related case, Wells was convicted of Trafficking Fentanyl, Keeping a Vehicle for Keeping Controlled Substances, Criminal Attempt to Suborn Perjury, and two counts of Possession of Firearm by Convicted Felon.

“The people who sell Fentanyl are ultimately the ones bringing is terrible drug into our community,” said Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson. “Regardless of whether the victim is a first-time user or a recurring addict, the horrific and unfortunately often deadly impacts of this drug reach too many families. We take this defendant off the streets to let others like him know that if you traffic Fentanyl in Gwinnett County, you will be prosecuted and you will go to prison.”

McDermott was discovered dead in his bedroom at a Lilburn sober living house on the morning of Nov. 10, 2023. The cause of death was determined to be a Fentanyl overdose. Police investigators found, among other evidence, a bag containing Fentanyl residue and a straw inside. 

Investigators were able to use McDermott’s phone to link his latest drug purchase to Wells and found that he had purchased pills from Wells at least three times the week of his death, including near a community swimming pool less than 100 yards from the home that Wells shared with his mother and grandmother. Wells was on probation at the time and was subject to conditions that allowed law enforcement to search and surveil him without the need for a warrant.

Police watched Wells’ home on multiple occasions over a three-month period beginning in November 2023. On January 4, 2024, Gwinnett Police officers with the Bay Creek Precinct Community Response Team followed him and conducted a routine traffic stop. Wells was detained and admitted to having marijuana in his car. Meanwhile, at his home, officers with the Narcotics Unit searched his three other vehicles and found a scale in one car, a revolver and ammunition in a second car, and inside the third car – a PT Cruiser – officers found a loaded AR-15 style rifle, a scale and a bag containing more than 10 grams of blue “M-30” pills. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Division of Forensic Science later tested the pills and found that they contained Fentanyl.

Further investigation of Wells’ phone determined that he had sold the “Percocet” pills to numerous other individuals, making between $8,000 and $11,000 per month. Investigators also found text messages between Wells and an individual claiming that the pills he bought caused his girlfriend to have a fatal overdose. Police were able to determine that the woman who overdosed on Nov. 4, 2023, was Melissa “Missy” Stephens. Post-mortem toxicology reports indicated that each of the victims had enough Fentanyl in their system to kill at least ten adults.

Both Stephens’ and McDermott’s family members testified during the victim impact portion of the plea hearing in which Wells agreed to serve a sentence of 50 years, with the first 40 years to be served in prison, followed by 10 years on probation.

While in jail, recorded messages of Wells captured him instructing his girlfriend to tell his mother to falsely testify that the PT Cruiser that police searched at their residence did not belong to him.

Gwinnett County Assistant District Attorney Betsy Weintraub prosecuted the case with assistance from Gwinnett DA Investigators John Wilbanks and Bernard Walls and Victim Advocates Beth Gorski and Chinelo Moneke.

The Gwinnett County Police Department was invaluable in helping to prosecute this case, particularly the Narcotics Unit detectives who spearheaded the investigation.