Man who injected heroin into arm of T. Boone Pickens’ grandson charged with stalking
A man who as a TCU student in 2013 injected a syringe loaded with heroin into the arm of Thomas Boone Pickens IV, causing the overdose death of the grandson of the billionaire oil tycoon, was arrested on Thursday in Fort Worth and accused of stalking a 44-year-old woman.
Brennan Rodriguez was sentenced in November 2014 to 10 years’ deferred-adjudication probation under an agreement in which Rodriguez pleaded guilty to delivery of a controlled substance causing death.
The stalking case involves a nanny cam, according to a police report. Other elements of evidence of the crime are not clear.
On Aug. 6, Rodriguez reported to Fort Worth police that he had been harassed via text and telephone by a person who is in a relationship with Rodriguez’s former girlfriend. Rodriguez said the person had called him five times and texted more than 20 times. Rodriguez said he felt threatened by the calls and texts.
The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office on Friday filed a petition to revoke Rodriguez’s probation in the controlled substance case, which would mean he could be sentenced to serve time for the death of Thomas Boone Pickens IV. Rodriguez is 33. He remained in Tarrant County Jail on Tuesday following his arrest last week.
Pickens’ grandfather, T. Boone Pickens, died in 2019 at age 91.
Tom and Jennifer Pickens alleged that Rodriguez on Jan. 29, 2013, injected their 21-year-old son, a TCU student whom the family called Ty, with heroin to steal his ATM card and get money. Comerica Bank records included in the case file show Rodriguez on camera at a Sundance Square ATM on Jan. 29, apparently withdrawing $60 from Pickens’ account.
Greg Westfall, who, with Bruce Ashworth, represented Rodriguez in the controlled substance case, said an eyewitness told police that Ty Pickens had used heroin several times before Jan. 29, 2013, and freely gave his ATM card and PIN number to Rodriguez. Ashworth will represent Rodriguez in the stalking case.
Rodriguez’s cousin told police that Rodriguez and Pickens used heroin and Xanax on Jan. 28, 2013, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Pickens returned to Rodriguez’s apartment late that night and was upset that Pickens and a former girlfriend were not getting back together, Rodriguez’s cousin said. Pickens asked Rodriguez to give him “just enough” heroin to make him doze off, according to the affidavit.
The apartment is at 1800 Rogers Road in Fort Worth.
The cousin told police that he and Rodriguez then left the apartment to get more heroin. When they returned, they found Pickens passed out and sweating profusely, prompting them to shake him awake and give him water and an ice pack.
When they could not wake Pickens in the morning, the men carried him to a car. The cousin drove Pickens to a hospital.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Pickens died from a heroin overdose and ruled his death accidental. An autopsy also determined that Pickens had the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam in his body.
Rodriguez was arrested in March 2013 and charged then in the case with tampering with evidence. In June 2013, a grand jury indicted him on murder, manslaughter, tampering with evidence and delivering a controlled substance causing death.
This story was originally published August 20, 2024 at 3:36 PM.
