SMITH COUNTY, Texas — A Tyler man charged with manslaughter is accused of giving a teen drugs that caused him to fatally overdose. Among the substances in the victim's system were cocaine and fentanyl, arrest documents show.
Billy Maddox, Jr., 27, was booked into the Smith County Jail Friday, May 26 for a manslaughter indictment in connection with the April 23, 2022 death of 17-year-old Preston Hawley.
He was already charged with tampering with evidence in connection with Hawley's death. That indictment came down in November 2022.
An arrest affidavit states that Hawley's autopsy showed the presence of cocaine, fentanyl, delta 9 THC, and bromazolam in his system at the time of his death.
According to a May 4 indictment, Maddox caused the death of Hawley on April 23, 2022 by providing him with pills or substances that "Maddox knew contained a different controlled substance or prescription drug" than Hawley thought he was given.
An arrest affidavit states that police were called to an emergency room after dispatch said medical staff saw Hawley suffering from an “apparent overdose” after he was brought in by his friend, Billy Maddox Jr., and another person around 6:15 p.m. April 23, 2022.
Hawley’s mother Brandy Smith told a detective that around 3 a.m. on April 23, Hawley said he was going to stay the night with Maddox. During the day, she tried to call her son but he didn’t answer, the affidavit said.
Around 5 p.m., Maddox called her saying Hawley was breathing slowly, and his heartbeat was becoming slow. She told Maddox to go to the hospital, the document read.
In an interview with police, Maddox said he and Hawley had gone to a party around 3 a.m. and they later went to Maddox’s mother’s home around 5 a.m. to sleep. Maddox said that at the time, he believed Hawley was coherent and not under the influence of any substance, the affidavit said.
Maddox said he woke up at about 4 p.m. and he tried to wake Hawley up, but he would not awaken and Maddox assumed he was in a deep sleep. Maddox left to go to the Broadway Square Mall in Tyler, and he returned to find Hawley still asleep, the document read.
According to the affidavit, Maddox splashed water on Hawley and when that didn’t work, he tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. After calling a friend and Hawley’s mother, Maddox said he flagged a man down to take Hawley to the ER because Maddox had no transportation.
Maddox told police he didn’t know where Hawley’s vehicle or car was located. Maddox’s mother said she did not know what was going on because she was in bed sick all day, but she allowed detectives to search her home, the affidavit said.
When searching the residence, Maddox’s mother pointed out the couch that Hawley had slept on and a detective, who recalled Maddox’s claim about splashing water on Hawley, said that the couch was not damp on any surface. None of Hawley’s property could be found at that residence, according to the document.
The next day, Smith said she met Maddox and his mother at a Tyler apartment complex, where Maddox was living, and picked up Hawley’s vehicle. Smith said Hawley was staying with Maddox in that apartment, not Maddox’s mother’s home, the affidavit said.
Smith also said Maddox was a “known drug dealer to Hawley's friends,” the document stated.
The man who drove Hawley to the hospital told a detective that a man, later identified as Maddox, was talking on the phone and pacing in the parking lot of a gas station on Old Bullard Road in Tyler. Maddox asked the man to take his friend (Hawley) to the hospital.
The driver said he followed Maddox to a driveway of an apartment complex and he saw Hawley laying in the grass unconscious. He put Hawley in his backseat, but he claimed Maddox was “acting strange and seemed like he was stalling,” the affidavit said.
He almost left Maddox because of the time he was wasting, according to the document. The driver, who did not know Maddox or Hawley, drove directly to the ER.
Hawley’s phone records showed his phone was near Maddox’s apartment complex from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then at the ER around 5:30 p.m. on April 23, 2022. Later that evening, the phone travels near Loop 49 and S. Broadway Ave., the affidavit said.
In looking through Maddox’s Snapchat account, police found a message saying, “Yess we getting all my stuff out my apartment kuz lil bro mom think I had some to do with it.” Another message shows Maddox told someone that Hawley’s mom was trying to say Maddox sold Hawley pills, the affidavit said.
Maddox said in the messages he doesn’t sell pills. Police found messages where people were asking Maddox if they could purchase "6 gs for $60" from him, requesting a "40 bag" or asking if Maddox has "tabs,” the document stated.
The detective received an Instagram screenshot from Hawley’s friend of a post shared around 4:20 p.m. on April 23, 2022. The picture shows Hawley passed out on his stomach on a couch with the caption Maddox posted "Look how that perc got him sleeping" with laughing emojis, according to the affidavit.
Based on the conflicting stories and evidence, the detective said he believed the illegal drugs linked to Hawley's death were destroyed or concealed, the document read.
Maddox remains in the Smith County Jail on a $200,000 bond.