GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The state attorney’s office is gearing up for a first-of-its-kind murder trial.

Tuesday, Sheriff Darryl Daniels announced the arrest of Trumaine Devone Muller, 32, of Jacksonville. He is charged with murder in the death of a local college student.

Ariel Jade Brundige, 18, died of a drug overdose on November 10, 2016 in an apartment on the 1400 block of Berrier Street in Orange Park. Toxicology reports revealed that she had a lethal dose of fentanyl-laced heroin in her system. According to the CCSO, Brundige purchased the drugs from Muller. The investigation into Muller’s involvement is the result of a joint effort between detectives of the CCSO Robbery/Homicide and Narcotics divisions.

Muller has an extensive criminal history, including a February arrest on charges of cocaine possession, heroin possession, trafficking hydrocodone and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon – all found in an apartment in the 400 block Bentwood Lane in Orange Park. The arrest report did not indicate Muller’s connection to that residence. However, the arrest does indicate Muller had been on the CCSO’s radar months before his May 15 murder indictment.

On May 23, the CCSO held a press conference to announce the Fourth Judicial Circuit’s first-ever murder indictment of a drug dealer in a drug overdose death. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Jonathan Sacks.

The grand jury also handed Brundige’s boyfriend, Tyler William Hamilton, 26, and Christopher Allen Williams, 32, manslaughter indictments related to her death. Both were with the victim when she purchased the narcotics and when she died. The incident occurred at Williams’ residence in the 1400 block of Berrier Street. Hamilton and Brundige also worked together at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Orange Park.

This ground-breaking murder charge is the first step in a new, tougher stance on opioid use in Clay County. Muller is set to be tried under a new state statute for “murder resulting from distribution of controlled substances.”

“Unfortunately for him, he [Muller] tried to peddle his product in Clay County,” Daniels said. “I think his luck ran out. I’m changing his street name from ‘lucky’ to unlucky.”

This indictment could be a sign of more to come. According to the CCSO, all current and future drug overdose cases will be investigated as homicides. There still remains the possibility Muller could be linked to other drug related deaths in Clay County.

The drug at the center of this investigation, fentanyl, is a synthetic opioid that is said to be 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin. Last year, the drug was blamed for nearly 10,000 deaths in the United States, 49 of those deaths were in Clay County. As of May 2017, the drug has claimed 16 lives in Clay County, according to Daniels.

“The opioid crisis is a very real and steadily growing issue that threatens the safety and well-being of our community,” said State Attorney Melissa Nelson in a prepared statement.

Muller is set to be arraigned on first degree murder charges June 27.

“For someone who would sell heroin or bring in fentanyl, and thinks that it’s OK to bring these products into Clay County, I have more disdain for them than I have the regular criminal,” Daniels said. “We’ve talked about dragging people from the gates of hell in the past, so we don’t have to do that, just get the hell out of Clay County.”

There was no indication of the whereabouts of the three men. At press time, neither had been booked into the Clay or Duval County jails.