LOUISA -- A prosecutor has dropped charges against one of the Louisa County men accused of causing a December drug overdose death from a prescription pain reliever.

A witness whom Louisa County Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Rusty E. McGuire needed for the case didn't appear for yesterday's scheduled preliminary hearing. McGuire will consider taking the case against Randy Eugene Taylor, 35, to a grand jury scheduled to meet next month, he said.

Taylor and Mathew Glenn Minster, 28, were charged with second-degree murder in the death of Nichole Brockett, a 24-year-old mother of infant twins who lived in the northwestern part of the county.

Authorities accuse the two of supplying Brockett with a fentanyl patch that killed her.

The two had preliminary hearings scheduled yesterday in Louisa County General District Court. Judge Edward K. Carpenter postponed Minster's case to Aug. 5, McGuire said.

Sold under the brand name Duragesic, fentanyl is a prescription opiate intended to treat moderate to chronic pain. The drug is potentially lethal when the patch is misapplied or when the fentanyl is extracted to get high by smoking or injection.

Contact Calvin R. Trice at (540) 932-3674 or ctrice@timesdispatch.com.