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A joint investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Drug Investigation Division, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, and the Third Judicial District Drug Task Force into an overdose death has resulted in the arrest of three Sneedville residents.

Charged and indicted in the case were Kwade Seldon Alder, 29; Toby Scott Alder, 56; and Halyn Savannah Alder, 30, all of Sneedville. On February 9th, the Hancock County Grand Jury returned indictments the three in connection with the investigation. Last week, they were arrested and booked into the Hancock County Jail.

Kwade Seldon Alder is charged with one count of Second-Degree Murder, one count of Delivery of Schedule II – Fentanyl, one count of Tampering with Evidence, and one count of Conspiracy to Sell or Deliver 150 grams or more of Schedule II – Fentanyl. Kwade Alder is being held on a $200,000 bond.

Toby Scott Alder is charged with one count Conspiracy to Sell or Deliver 150 grams or more of Schedule II – Fentanyl, one count of Sale/Delivery of Schedule II – Morphine and two counts Sale/Delivery of Schedule II – Fentanyl. Toby Alder is being held on a $130,000 bond.

Halyn Savannah Alder is charged with one count of Conspiracy to Sell or Deliver 150 grams or more of Schedule II – Fentanyl. She is being held on a $70,000 bond.

In December 2024, TBI special agents joined investigators with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and the Third Judicial District Task Force in investigating the overdose death of Sloane Holt, 32, after he was found deceased in the front yard of his residence located along Cantwell Valley Road in Sneedville. Holt’s cause of death was determined to be an overdose caused by fentanyl toxicity.

During the course of the investigation, agents determined that Kwade Alder was involved in distributing the drugs that caused Holt’s death. Further investigation revealed that Halyn Alder and Toby Alder were also involved in the distribution of fentanyl in Hancock County.

All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and convicted through due process of law.