CROSSVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Three people have been arrested in connection to the drug-related death of a Crossville man in 2022.

The arrests come after a joint investigation by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation special agents and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department into the death of 34-year-old Christopher Hale in July 2022.

It was determined that Hale died from the combined effects of fentanyl and alcohol. Investigators found that a Crossville man and two other individuals provided the drugs to the victim.

The Cumberland County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Michael Daignault, Jerrica Hayes, and Frazier Norris on January 8. They are being held in the Cumberland County Jail.

Daignault, 62, was arrested in North Carolina and extradited to Tennessee. He is being charged with one count of Second-Degree Murder, one count of Manufacture or Sale of Schedule II Fentanyl, and one count of Manufacture or Delivery of Schedule II Fentanyl. His bond was set at $500,000.

Hayes, 36, faces four counts of manufacture, delivery, or sale of Schedule II Controlled Substance. Her bond is set at $70,000. Norris, 78, faces four counts of manufacture, delivery, or sale of Schedule II Controlled Substance. His bond is also set at $70,000.

According to Tennessee’s death by distribution law, an individual can be charged with second-degree murder if they sell or give someone fentanyl or carfentanil, either alone or in combination with any controlled substance (per the Tennessee Drug Control Act of 1989), and that person dies because of those drugs.

When a person is charged with death by distribution, the prosecutor does not have to prove the individual acted with malice; they only need to prove that they supplied someone with the drugs that killed them.