The Tipton County Sheriff’s Office has charged a Brighton man after a woman was found dead at a local Dollar General store Wednesday.
Joseph Heath Huggins, 40, who was originally named as someone who could identify the woman, was charged with facilitation of second degree murder, tampering with evidence and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
According to TCSO, Huggins told his father Haley Marie High, 32, of Memphis, was at his Dunlap Orphanage Road home suffering from a heroin overdose. High was reportedly still alive, but unconscious and with shallow breathing.
Huggins and his father loaded her into Huggins’s truck where she was supposed to be taken to the hospital, but Huggins drove to the Dollar General store at the corner of Hwy. 14 and Atoka-Idaville Road and left her on the ground behind the store.
Afterwards, Huggins returned home where detectives allege he concealed and destroyed evidence and altered the scene. A loaded firearm and ammunition were among the items recovered.
In 2012, Huggins was convicted of drug charges in Texas. He has been arrested several times in Tipton County.
High recently completed serving a sentence for second degree murder after her boyfriend, Corey “Daniel” Goodrum, overdosed on heroin five years ago. According to the Tennessee Department of Corrections, her sentence ended on Feb. 11.
Huggins was arrested Thursday and is being held in the Tipton County Jail awaiting his March 9 bond hearing.
If someone you know overdoses, call 911 or transport them to hospital, fire station or police station for medical help. T.C.A. ยง 63-1-156 provides immunity from prosecution for, in good faith, seeking medical treatment for someone potentially experiencing a drug overdose.
Author: Echo Day
Echo Day is an award-winning journalist, photographer and designer. She is currently The Leader's managing editor.
