LOUISA -- Two Louisa men were arrested after police said an investigation linked them to a December overdose death from the prescription pain reliever fentanyl.

Mathew Glenn Minster, 28, and 34-year-old Randy Eugene Taylor, are each charged with second-degree murder. Police accuse the two of supplying the fentanyl patch that killed Nichole Brockett, 24, who lived in the northwestern part of the county.

The morning of Dec. 26, deputies with the Louisa County Sheriff's Office responded to an emergency call at Brockett's home. Deputies and emergency medical personnel were unable to revive her, according to Maj. Donald Lowe of the Sheriff's Office.

The cause of death was determined to be poisoning from chewing and ingesting a fentanyl patch. Minster was arrested Thursday, and Taylor on Friday, Lowe said.

Investigators believe Brockett, a mother to 5-week-old twins at the time of her death, obtained the drug for recreational use, Lowe said.

The patch is a powerful prescription opiate intended for moderate to severe chronic pain expected to last for weeks and that can't be managed with other pain relievers, according to a federal report.

Sold under the brand name Duragesic, the drug has proved dangerous if misapplied in prescription form or when the fentanyl is extracted to get high through injection, ingestion or smoking, according to an online Food and Drug Administration report.

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